Generation of Shadows
by Danger2863
Summary: Kiseki no Sedai. Generation of Miracles. The best team of assassins in the world. Rumoured never to have failed a mission. Until now. Something goes horribly wrong, and the assassins are forced to accept help in order to survive. But what happens when this team has the ability to rival their strength? Will something form between the two groups? Or will they destroy each other?
1. Prologue

Mission status: Complete

Team involved: Kiseki (attached sheet with information)

The mission:

Infiltrate security building and take out a high profile target. Name erased.

Events that occurred:

At 0000 hours, Teal successfully shut down the buildings cameras and opened the doors and windows. Blue and Yellow enter, taking out two guards. Green eliminated remaining outside guards.

* * *

"Kuroko." There was a soft voice in his ear. "Are the cameras down yet?"

The teal headed male muttered something under his breath. "Almost, Midorima-kun." He was lying prone the rooftop of the building. For being a very secure building, their designs sure had some flaws. He was surrounded by wires, all different colours, but having studied the designs closely he knew which ones he needed to mess with. Picking up the small pair of what looked like scissors, he cut through a red wire. "They're down."

He heard a soft sigh in his ear piece. "Good work Tetsuya. Daiki, Ryouta, get into position." Quiet affirmations were heard from the two. Kuroko shifted slightly to get a better look at the wires. Doors and windows were next. They had been automatically locked for the night, but for some reason all the controls were up on the roof. It didn't take long before they were open too. "Doors and windows are open, Akashi-kun."

"Daiki, Ryouta, take out the two guards." There was a soft swishing sound. "Good. Enter and take out the target. Satsuki should have given you the whereabouts of the target beforehand. Shintarou, you don't need me to tell you what to do, correct?"

The soft sound of bodies falling onto snow answered him.

* * *

After entering the premises, Blue and Yellow found target. Yellow took out target. Three guards were eliminated during this. Purple stood guard at entrance to building. No other disturbances.

* * *

"Aomine-cchi! It's my turn!" Whined a certain blonde. It was soft enough not to alert anyone else to their presence, however loud enough to annoy the bluenette who was beside him.

"Shut up Kise!"

"Waah! So mean, Aomine-cchi!"

"Ki-" Aomine, about to tell him to shut up again, had found a hand slapped over his mouth prevented him from uttering another word. Growling lowly, he turned to shoot a glare at the blonde. They had stopped just before a turn in the corridor. Luckily, Kise managed to move his hand away before any damage was done. He nodded quickly to the bluenette, who at least understood. There were men round the corner.

"Daiki, Ryouta, is everything going to plan?" A smooth voice asked through the earpiece. He was met with silence. "Atsushi, go stand guard. I will send you in if I do not get confirmation in a minute." However the emperor wasn't worried. Everything always went to plan. The purple giant lazily moved from his hiding place and went to stand by the door.

In the building, both males gripped their weapons. With a glance, Kise rounded the corner. He had put silencers on beforehand, and so the sound of gunfire was muted. There was a soft sound of a burst of gunfire, before the blonde gestured to the other male. "It's all good Akashi-cchi!~" He reassured the captain, before moving towards the door.

"You're too happy for this," Aomine muttered. Kise turned to give him a pout.

"That's mean! Why can't I be happy, Aomine-cchi?"

The bluenette just shook his head and went to push open the door. The blonde however, moved to stop him. "My turn! You got the target last time!" He tanned male glared at him. "You missed last time, baka! That's why!" He shoved Kise back, but a voice in his earpiece stopped him."Daiki, let Ryouta have his way."

Growling, the male stepped away from the door. "Fine," he muttered, leaning against the wall. "Don't screw up."

Kise only gave him another pout before entering the room. For a few seconds, Aomine heard voices from the room. He wasn't surprised, Kise liked to tell the target what they did wrong before killing them. Another burst of gunfire quickly ended it. The blonde exited and grinned at the other."All done! We can go now, Akashi-cchi!" Kise said happily, as he began to head out of the building. "Tch," Aomine muttered as he followed.

"Good. We have 5 minutes to get to the rendezvous point. The helicopter will not wait." Akashi stood from his position, glancing over the building one last time before he turned and headed for the cover of trees.

* * *

At 0200, Team Kiseki arrived back at base. No injuries.

* * *

 _Attached sheet_

Team Kiseki, top group of assassins in the current year 2053. Over 100 kill missions, all successful.

Members:

Akashi Seijuuro; Code name: Red  
Weapon(s) of choice: Katana, along with a few specialised shurikens.  
Skills: Unknown.  
Relationship with team: No one dares to disobey Red.  
Notes: Captain. Red has never lost a challenge. Attempts on his life have never managed to even injure him.

Muraskibara Atsushi; Code name: Purple  
Weapon(s) of choice: War hammer, along with a large energy shield.  
Skills: Very good at defence, protects the majority of the team with his size and weapons.  
Relationship with team: His relationships are mostly with snacks. He has a very normal relationship with his team, as normal as it is for a group of assassins.  
Notes: Rather childlike. Appears to have an obsession with snacks.

Aomine Daiki; Code name: Blue  
Weapon(s) of choice: Swallow. Two ends are detachable, and has an energy shield that protects from bullets. Both ends are fully capable of being used on their own.  
Skills: Best fighter on the team. Remarkable handling and use of his weapon.  
Relationship with team: Seems annoyed most of the time, although works well with the others. Has a closer relationship to Teal than the others.  
Notes: Lazy, doesn't like showing up to practice. Doesn't think anyone can beat him.

Midorima Shintarou; Code name: Green  
Weapon(s) of choice: Sniper rifle. Keeps two long daggers on him.  
Skills: Never misses his shots. Not so good at close combat, but has enough talent to keep himself alive.  
Relationship with team: Appears to not care much for his team. Easily irritated. Focuses a lot in his own skill. Will play shogi with Red.  
Notes: Brings unusual items with him on missions, due to his obsession with fate and Oha Asa.

Kise Ryouta; Code name: Yellow  
Weapon(s) of choice: Two automatic pistols that can be put together with the addition of a third piece. However, he can use any weapon as long as he sees someone else using it first.  
Skills: Good at mimicking others. Decent shot, however he has trouble copying the fighting styles of the members on the team.  
Relationship with team: Yellow is considered annoying and a pest by most of the team, however he is positive and although overly dramatic, keeps most of the team's morale up.  
Notes: Many say Yellow reminds them of a golden retriever.

Kuroko Tetsuya; Code name: Teal  
Weapon(s) of choice: Retractable arm blades, about 30 cm in length. Serrated on one edge of both blades. An energy shield runs up his arm, when activated, will cover body.  
Skills: Good at stealth missions and blending in. Has the easiest time getting into places, and so is usually the one to take out security systems and computer controlled defences.  
Relationship with team: Seems like the younger brother at times. He treats them all with respect and as equals. Part of the reason they stay together.  
Notes: Has an unusual presence. Barely anyone can sense him if he doesn't show himself.

* * *

This team is possibly the best in the world, and the members have skills surpassing many high ranking assassins. With all of them being a similar, if not same(information incomplete) age, they are considered a Generation of Miracles.

* * *

"Best in the world, huh?" There was a low chuckle. "We'll see about that."


	2. Chapter 1

"Dai-chan!" Momoi sung, skipping through the hallway. "I have your new mission! Please give it to Akashi-kun for me!" She finally spotted the tan male, who appeared to be sleeping on the couch. "Dai-chan!"

"Hah?" Grumbled a sleepy Aomine, who blearily opened his eyes to see a cross Momoi with her hands on her hips. "What is it, Satsuki?" Her response was to hit him over the head with a file.

"New mission! For the team! I can't find Akashi-kun so you have to give it to him!" She thrust the file into his face. The bluenette lazily swatted it away. "Eeh? Why me? Go find Tetsu, or the dumb blonde. I'm sleeping."

"Tetsu-kun is out on a solo mission and Ki-chan is in the bath! I can't find Midorin and Mukkun either!" Momoi hit him again with the file. "Help me find Akashi-kun!"

"Go away, Satsuki," Aomine groaned, rolling over so he was facing away from her. He was hit with something else. It didn't feel like a file. "I'll show these to-"

"Fine!" The tan male grumbled, knowing what it was she held. He yawned and got off the couch, clearly unhappy. "But you can't use those any more." Momoi just shook her head and grabbed his arm. "Come on!"

* * *

"Satsuki, Daiki. What brings you here?" Akashi had spotted the two looking into rooms that he frequented and decided to spare them. By any guess, the file in Momoi's hands seemed to be a new mission. When she held it up, it was clear.

"New mission for the team, Akashi-kun. Tetsu-kun should be back soon from his solo run, and this happens tomorrow. I've already compiled the data together and everything you need to know should be in the file. If you need anything else, shoot me a message!" The pink haired girl told the captain as she handed it over. Not that he ever needed more information. She hadn't been handpicked for nothing.

"No need, Satsuki. Thank you. I will gather the team for a briefing. You may leave," Akashi nodded to her, and with a small nod, she left. Aomine stood uncomfortably in the presence of the captain. "Is there something you need, Daiki? If not, go find Atsushi. He will likely be in the kitchen again. I will find Shintarou and Ryouta. Inform Atsushi there will be a meeting tonight at 7:30 in the briefing room." With a casual wave of his hand, he sent Aomine scuttling out of the room. Checking his watch, he noted he had 3 hours to prepare. Feeling the thickness of the file, he knew he would only need 2.

* * *

"Tetsuya, welcome back. Please take a seat. This shouldn't take too long." Akashi gestured to one of the empty seats in the briefing room. "I hope the mission went well."

"It went to plan, Akashi-kun." The phantom nodded to the captain as he took a seat. "Thank you."

Aomine was leaning against the wall, while the rest of them had taken seats. Kise was across from Midorima, and Muraskibara was next to Kise on the oval table. Kuroko went and took his seat next to Midorima. Akashi was standing at the front of the room, where there was a pin board with multiple maps stuck to it. Blueprints of the building hung to one side.

"As you might have guessed, we have a new mission. This one should be simple. Fortified building, no situated machine guns. Guards will be carrying handguns and a knife, however some do have light machine guns. They will be here, here and here." Akashi used the laser pointer to show the areas of the building they would be in. "The target does not appear to know that he is to be killed. Tetsuya, I will need you here. There are many vents in this building that you can use. We need the cameras down, and then you will be fine to join Daiki and Ryouta. You will have 10 minutes to get in and out." The sixth man nodded. It wasn't unusual for him to join the two during missions, especially when all he needed to do was take down the cameras. Sometimes he was needed for more critical things, especially if the target relied more on building security than men.

"Shintarou, there are many cliffs around the structure. You will set up here," he pointed to to the left side of the building, atop a high cliff, "as this gives a better vantage point. There are men on the roof that will need to be taken out. Don't be seen. We can have no witnesses."

"Atsushi, you will take out the guards at the front. Quietly. We do not want to alert the rest of the building," Akashi said to the childish giant. He was munching on snacks, as per usual, but he was listening. "And then you will stand guard. There may be wandering guards. No witnesses."

"Daiki, Ryouta. After Atsushi takes out the guards, you will go in, as usual. I have marked the route to the target's room. Tetsuya will join you here, through an air vent." He pointed to a certain part of the building. "It will be locked. Tetsuya will have the parts to open the door. There will be few guards in the building itself. They shouldn't pose a threat. Take out the target quietly, then leave from the roof. It is the safest way, as there is a ladder that is unguarded and out of sight. The helicopter will pick us up 3 miles to the south. I will call it in when needed. Does everyone understand?"

Multiple nods confirmed what Akashi thought. They never doubted him, or his plans. "We will leave at 4 am tomorrow. Get some sleep." That concluded the meeting. As the team filed out, Akashi was thinking. It was almost routine, these runs. He left out details that he knew the team would be able to handle. It should run smoothly, and they'd be back in no time. Nothing ever went wrong with his plans. Not even surprises. Sometimes the target had maybe more guards, more security, or there was someone where they weren't supposed to be. This run, the target didn't even know they were coming. They had almost bottom line security, so perhaps it wasn't a usual run. This was almost easy. For some reason, the organisation gave it to them. But Akashi wouldn't question them. After all, they had taken them in, trained them, made them the best.

Or so they thought.

* * *

As the helicopter landed at their intended destination, Akashi was first off the aircraft. Without hesitation, he immediately began heading for his outlook, where he could watch over the mission. He was clad in all black, however his outfit could change colour if need be. The rest of the team was fitted with the same material. What was clearly visible however, was their hair colour. They didn't care much for how it showed.

The rest of his team headed for their positions. The building was surrounded by forest, so it wasn't hard to get there unseen. It was a tall building surrounded by forests and cliffs, possibly the worst position in terms of war and assassination. However they wouldn't ask questions. A mission was a mission.

Akashi arrived quite quickly. They had checked all their equipment back at base, so there wasn't much to do until they were all ready. With his pair of binoculars, the redhead spotted Midorima on the opposite cliff. He was already in position, his rifle resting on some rocks which he crouched behind. Good, he was ready. Moving his gaze down, he could see Kise, Aomine and Muraskibara hiding just out of sight of the building. However, Kuroko was nowhere to be seen.

"Tetsuya. Check in." Nothing. "Tetsuya."

"Sorry, Akashi-kun. There were men below me. I am fine, nearing the control centre."

"Good. You have 7 minutes left." With that, Akashi turned his gaze back to the other three. It was almost time.

"The cameras are down, Akashi-kun."

"Thank you, Tetsuya. Atsushi, go."

Muraskibara stood, the tall menacing figure casting a shadow on the ground. Hammer in hand, he charged the two guards. They were down in an instant. The purple giant was faster than he seemed. "All clear, Aka-chin," he said softly.

"Daiki, Ryouta, go."

The two wasted no time, sprinting for the door. The bluenette kicked the door open, and they disappeared inside. There was a soft burst of gunfire, then nothing. "All clear, Akashi-cchi! We'll meet up with Kuroko soon."

"Kise-kun. You may need to find another route."

"What's wrong, Kuroko-cchi?"

"It's a trap."

"Tetsuya, what do you mean a trap? There shouldn't be many guards."

"Akashi-kun, there are a lot o-" The sound of gunfire and static cut him off. "Tetsuya!"


	3. Chapter 2

"Kuroko-cchi!"

"Kuroko!"

"Tetsu!"

"Kuro-chin?"

The phantom's name was called out by the team. The static and gunfire faded, before there was silence.

"I… I have been hit." Kuroko's breath sounded harsh, as if he was in pain. "Nothing serious. It went through my leg."

Akashi's head was spinning. Nothing like this had been planned. And not just that, but one of his team members had been hit. They had _never_ been injured before. Taking out the laptop, he checked his position. "Can you move, Tetsuya?"

"Yes, Akashi-kun. I'm still in the vents. I do not know if I can stand."

"Keep going forward. When you reach the intersection, go left. There should be an exit. Atsushi, go help him. It will be around the left of the building."

He could see the purple head moving.

"Akashi-cchi, what do we do?" Kise was feeling slightly nervous. They hadn't ever been hit before.

Akashi thought on it. He didn't want to send them in, for fear of more surprises. But they never failed. And they wouldn't start now. "Keep going. You can handle them, correct?"

"Of course," Aomine scoffed. "Come on, baka." There was a short yelp of pain as he hit the blonde, before they continued on.

"Akashi. Would you like me to take out the targets on the roof?" Midorima's cool demeanour was a relief. "Yes. Make it quick."

Things still seemed on track. Aomine and Kise could take care of it. They didn't need Kuroko. There were just more guards than he thought… Maybe.

"Tetsuya. Did you see their weapons?"

"No Akashi-kun. I didn't have much time before they-"

Another explosion of noise. Gunfire, but he couldn't tell who from. And then suddenly, a cry of pain from Midorima. Akashi whipped around, his eyes trained on the sniper. By the looks of it, he had been shot. There was blood and he was cradling his arm behind the rock. "Shintarou, what happened?"

"They saw me. I don't know how," the male gritted. He wasn't going to be much help. And Akashi still didn't know what happened with the previous gunfire. "Daiki, Ryouta, check in."

Nothing. He repeated. What the hell was happening? How had everything gone wrong so quickly? First Kuroko, now Midorima, and he didn't know about the other two still inside. How could this have happened? Momoi's data was never, _never_ wrong. His plans, more so. He was absolute. And yet, here they were, with his plan falling apart. "Daiki, Ryouta!"

There was a small burst of static before a reply came. "Kise… Kise was closer to the stun than I was. He's down but not out." Another burst of gunfire and static. "I can't protect him for much longer, Akashi!"

Kise. Midorima. Kuroko. All down.

Aomine under fire, and Muraskibara unavailable. He wouldn't get there in time.

"Akashi Seijuuro."

An unfamiliar voice. Not on the frequency. _Behind him_.

Alarms went off in his head. How. _How had he not noticed?_ Impossible. Akashi was absolute. No one could beat him. No one should have been in the area, other than his team. As those thoughts went off in his head, his hand flashed to the hilt of his katana and he was on his feet. The cold edge of his blade rested on the "intruder"'s neck. The other didn't flinch. The earpiece in Akashi's ear was still exploding with noise, but this was a new threat he needed to deal with. Aomine could hold them for a little longer. "Who are you." The venom in his voice went unnoticed. The stranger was wearing some kind of hood, with a large coat. His face was hidden. His hands however were shown, and in a peaceful gesture. The redhead didn't buy that for a second. _No one ever snuck up on him_.

"You can call me Zenith. We work for the same organisation. My team and I were in the area when we heard something on our frequency. Your team appears to be in trouble." The stranger didn't say anything else, but it was implied. _We can help_. At first, Akashi was incredibly reluctant. The team had never needed help before. They were the best, after all. But now... "Akashi! I can't protect Kise any longer!"

The stranger tilted his head to the side, awaiting an answer.

"Do it." Akashi had never felt more defeated in his life. In fact, he had never felt defeated. And here he was, his plan falling to pieces, and forced to ask help from another team. He half expected them to fail anyway, but they were his last chance. He lifted his katana off the stranger's neck, sheathing it.

Zenith turned away from the redhead. Pressing a hand to his ear, he began barking out orders. Akashi listened closely, for even a hint of betrayal. The orders were in English, but he had no problem understanding.

"Bear and Light, go help the two inside. There's one unconscious, and the other may be down soon. Hurry. Hen, take care of the one on the cliff. He's hit bad. Psych, help her. Take care of the ones on the roof. Joker, call in the plane. Then go help the other injured one."

Akashi watched his pacing. He still hadn't seen his face. It was hard to trust someone who kept his face covered. Almost as if reading his mind, "Zenith" threw his hood back. However, his back was was still turned. The male had short, light blonde hair, lighter than Kise's and about as short as Aomine's. His figure was all wrong though. He almost appeared fat, but he quite simply couldn't be. His back just appeared to be further out. His thoughts were interrupted when Zenith turned around.

The redhead couldn't help but be surprised. He almost took a step back. He managed to compose himself before taking a closer look.

Zenith had ice blue eyes, that held a coldness far deeper than the colour itself. His face was sort of angular, and probably to girls he'd be considered handsome. But that wasn't the main feature.

The male might've been considered handsome. Might've, had he not had that scar cutting from one side of his face to another. It started from just beside his right eye, cutting a jagged line across the top of his nose before suddenly veering down towards his lips. It ended on the left side of his lips. From Akashi's guess, it was as if someone took a knife or something and carved up his face. It was a horrible looking scar, but at least it was clean. It also didn't manage to damage anything major on his face. Zenith had a knowing look on his face as Akashi studied it. Everyone tended to stare, it was nothing new. But they had stuff to do. "My plane will be coming soon. Your helicopter is too slow, I'm afraid. We will be out of here in less than 10 minutes."

Akashi showed no outer emotions, however on the inside he was battling his personalities. He was angry, at himself, for needing help. But there was nothing he could do, unless he wanted to risk the lives of his friends.

"Okay. Do not harm any of them, or I will kill you."

* * *

Aomine had withdrawn from fighting, the men being too many. There were a lot of guns, and much heavier than they had been expecting. He had been able to drag the blonde to a more secure area, but they were closing in. As good as Aomine was, and as much as he hated to admit it, He couldn't risk the blonde dying. Activating the shield on his weapon, he took a deep breath as he waited for his enemies to round the corner.

The bullets he was expecting, never came.

Shouts filled the corridor as something else happened. There were screams. Aomine didn't know what was happening, but he had to find out. Making sure the blonde was safe, he deactivated the shield and quickly dashed around the corner. He was not prepared for the sight.

Standing amongst the dead bodies, were two people. People may have been pushing it. One was clearly human, and the other was in some sort of metal suit. The one in the suit was holding what looked like a shotgun, except of course much much more high tech. The other one, the human one, was holding two katanas. It was covered in blood. Finally noticing Aomine, the human one looked up. He was clearly Asian. Amber eyes, much like Kise's, stared back at him. He had dark grey hair, almost black, not too long yet not short. It was styled similarly to Kise's as well. "Aomine Daiki?"

The bluenette blinked. In his surprise, he hadn't wondered why they were there and how they knew him. And he still hadn't registered the fact that they may as well have saved his life. "Who- How do you know my name?"

The amber eyed male looked at the other. "Complicated. Where is Kise Ryouta? We are going to get you out of here."

Immediately Aomine got defensive. "We didn't need your help! I was doing perfectly fine by myself-" He paused. Akashi's voice was in his ear.

"Daiki, there will be people there to help you. Do not fight them." The tone in Akashi's voice sent a visible shudder down his spine, and the male holding the two katanas frowned. Their captain was like this? Aomine however scowled and looked away. "He's back here." The bluenette would never defy an order from Akashi, as much as he disliked it. He could tell however that his captain was upset. Everyone on the team knew that they wouldn't accept help easily. "Your names?"

"Light. This is Bear."

Scowling, Aomine shot a glare at them as he led them to the blonde. His swallow was attached to his back and as they walked, the other sheathed his swords. "What are your actual names?"

The Asian one hesitated slightly. Pausing, he murmured something too quiet to hear. "Fukui Akio," The smaller one said with a slight bow, more of a nod. "And this is... Adrian Taylor. Adrian is his first name." At that, the one in the metal suit looked up. The two of them had been speaking Japanese so far. However, apparently the big guy didn't seem to understand. But before any of them could ask questions, they reached the blonde.

Without hesitation, "Adrian" went forward to pick him up. Defensively, Aomine moved to stop him. "What are you going to do?" He asked suspiciously. Adrian just looked to Fukui.

"He's going to help us get him out. If you want him to live, you're going to have to let us help," he ground out, getting slightly annoyed. Aomine narrowed his eyes, annoyed himself, but he wouldn't risk the life of his team mate. Stepping back, he watched closely as the blonde was picked up. He didn't make a sound. Concern flashed for a second, but he got rid of it quickly. "Let's go then."

* * *

Midorima was in pain. A lot. More pain than he had ever felt before. The shot had more than grazed his arm. He had been lucky though, had he not seen the glint of the gun he would've had a nicely sized round hole through his head. Even so, he would likely die of blood loss if he didn't get help soon. Unfortunately, he didn't see it happening. Everyone was under stress, under fire. This was the first time in their history that it had happened. Lying on his back, he glared angrily at the sky. Akashi was never wrong. What had happened?

Before he could have an internal debate on it, there was a soft rustling noise. Immediately he tried to jerk up, but a shot of pain when down his arm and he groaned before he lay back down. He was likely to die here anyway, it didn't matter how. Though it was likely his team would have problems if he died without going down in a fight... His other hand slipped from his arm and gripped one of his daggers. But before he could draw it, a soft, feminine voice stopped him.

"Midorima Shintarou?" She asked. "I'm not here to hurt you. May I look at your arm?"

This was unusual... But Oha Asa was never wrong. The horoscope had said something would go wrong. He had gotten his lucky item, and yet still...

"Daiki, there will be people there to help you. Do not fight them." He heard Akashi's voice in his ear. The tone... He knew his captain was angry, it was as clear as day. _Accepting help_. Midorima had no choice either.

"I will not hurt you."

Taking that as a cue, the female moved closer. However, a loud shot echoed through the air and the dirt near her exploded. With a hiss, she backed away to the tree line once again. Midorima couldn't see her, but he could hear her. "Psych, take them out!"

A gurgled scream was heard, and then silence.

Quite suddenly, he saw a flash of brown hair. A face peered down at him. She was pretty, but the thing that surprised him the most was that she wasn't even Asian. However, from what he could tell, her Japanese was practically perfect. Almost as if she grew up in Japan. His thoughts were interrupted again.

"How much does it hurt?" She asked, frowning down at his arm. Taking out a medical kit, she began to work on it without an answer. Midorima hissed in pain, but he didn't say anything else. His pride was a little stung, but he knew he was better off living. "Who are you?"

"My team calls me Mother Hen most of the time, but my actual name is Crystal Gold," she said, almost with a hum. "You'll live. Can you stand?"

Nodding, the green headed male struggled but managed to get on his feet. His face was scrunched up in pain, but he was alive. In his other hand, Crystal noticed, was a yellow scarf. "What's that?" She asked curiously. There was no hostility in her gaze, and from what Midorima could tell, no weapons either. What on earth was she doing here? With a grunt, he answered her question. "Lucky item."

Crystal looked slightly perplexed, but she shrugged. "Come on then." She turned and headed back into the tree line. Narrowing his eyes, the sniper followed.

* * *

Muraskibara was simple minded. He took orders from Akashi and Akashi only, but he did care about the others. That's why he was concerned when Kuroko crawled out of the vent, falling. He managed to catch him in time. "Kuro-chin... Are you okay?" He asked, frowning down at the frail looking phantom. He saw the blood and his frown only deepened. "I'll be fine, Muraskibara-kun but..." He bit his lip. He could hear the others. Everything was not going okay. His leg was throbbing, but that was the least of his concerns. Midorima had been shot, Kise was unconscious... Suddenly, a voice called out to them.

"Man you're tall! Two metres at least! Is that a hammer? Woah."

Both of the two members turned to find the source of the voice. Striding towards them, from the back of the building, was a short, somewhat thin figure. Just then, Akashi's voice was heard again.

"Daiki, there will be people there to help you. Do not fight them."

Hearing that, Kuroko realised something. _Akashi had asked for help._ And this had to be a member of whatever team he had asked. Muraskibara, however, had not come to the same conclusion. Even though Kuroko was in his arms, he stepped forward menacingly.

The male raised his arms in a gesture of peace. "I'm here to lead you to our plane. You don't seem to be needing saving much. "Muraskibara Atsushi?" The purple headed giant was confused. "How do you know me?"

"Files and stuff. Complicated. I heard there was another one here? Kuroko Tetsuya?"

"I am here." This startled the male, who hadn't noticed Kuroko even though Muraskibara had been holding him the entire time. "Where did you..? Nevermind. Anyway, let's go? I'm Ben by the way. My team calls me Joker if you want. And well, the building is going to be a pile of rubble in a few minutes so..." He left it hanging. Finally, he had walked close enough for them to see him. His black hair was cut short, sticking straight up in random spikes. He had a childish sort of face, and he was wearing a grin as if he knew a secret they didn't. He was wearing a similar outfit to them, and he had his hands in his pockets. Kuroko got the sense that they could trust him. He looked to the one holding him and nodded. "We can trust him."

Muraskibara still looked uneasy. "Ne... I dunno, Kuro-chin... But okay..."

"Cool! So if you would just follow me, please!" With a skip in his step, Ben walked past them. Muraskibara followed.

* * *

Hearing an affirmative from everyone, Zenith looked to Akashi. "They're all fine. We will meet them at the plane. Will you follow?" The scarred male stared curiously at Akashi. He knew the answer, but he had to confirm.

Akashi once again didn't show any emotion, but he was furious. Beyond furious. But the only thing he did was give a stiff nod. After all, the team owed them. And he hated that more than anything. Zenith noted it and turned, heading for the plane. Akashi followed. A few seconds later, the building behind them went up in flames.

* * *

 **First Author's Note!**

 **Thanks all for the follows and favourites, and especially thank you for the reviews c: I do apologize for Midorima this chapter, felt kind of out of character to me. I hope bringing in the new characters wasn't too overwhelming. I hope you like it!**


	4. Chapter 3

When Kise woke up, he had a moment of confusion. Where was he? What had happened?

He remembered a dream. There had been some kind of grenade rolling towards him. He hadn't moved away fast enough. Then it ended there.

"Ryouta?"

With a start, the blonde opened his eyes. It took a moment for everything to sink in.

White walls. Antiseptic smell. Akashi, Muraskibara and Aomine looking more than a little upset. _What happened?_

And then he remembered. The dream that hadn't been a dream. The stun grenade- Kise had been knocked unconscious. There had been more guards than they expected. His face fell. This was the first time anybody on the team had been hurt. And he had been the one to let the team down. It was all his fault they were looking upset...

"Ryouta."

Hearing his name, Kise looked up towards Akashi. "I'm sorry Akashi-cchi, I wasn't looking," he mumbled, wanting to hide. He thought his captain would be angry at him.

"Kise it's not your fault," Aomine grumbled, staring at the ground. Huh? Aomine wasn't blaming him?

It was only then he realised that only the four of them were there. "Where's Midorima-cchi and Kuroko-cchi?"

Immediately, all three of them looked more uncomfortable. Muraskibara stopped munching on snacks. Cautiously, Akashi spoke up.

"They're in their rooms, resting." Kise got a bad feeling from that. "You mean... They didn't come visit me...?" Tears started rolling down his face. Aomine was taken aback. That's what he was worried about?

"Eh? Didn't Kuro-chin get injured before Ki-chin?" Muraskibara mumbled. Kise blinked. He had completely forgotten. "Kuroko-cchi... He got shot in the leg..." The blonde stared at his hands, thinking back.

So he hadn't been the first one hit. That mission... How had so many things gone wrong? Akashi's plans never failed. "Kuroko-cchi's okay, right? What happened to Midorima-cchi? Why won't he come visit me?" Kise asked. He knew Midorima didn't quite like him, but surely he would at least be there until he woke up? Or were Kuroko's injuries worse?

"Shintarou was injured as well." Akashi stared at the ground, thinking heavily on his failure. Kise couldn't comprehend it.

 _Midorima-cchi... Injured?_

"W-what happened after I..."

This was the worse part, Akashi was sure. But Kise had a right to know.

"After you were knocked unconscious, someone on the roof saw Shintarou. The shot went through his arm. He is fine now..." _But it took more than a physical toll on him._ "Another team was nearby."

"Another team? Were they in trouble?" Kise asked.

Akashi shook his head. "No. They were on the same frequency as ours, and came to our aid."

 _Came to our aid...?_

"Daiki was pinned down and Atsushi was helping Tetsuya. It was the most logical choice at the time."

 _Aomine-cchi... Pinned down?_

"One carried you out. The others were helped by various members of the other team, and we arrived here-"

"Stop."

Kise's hands were clenched around the bed sheet. He was staring down. "We had... _Help_?" An angry tear slid down his cheek.

All of them were silent.

But at the same time, Kise understood why. Akashi wouldn't risk their lives for the sake of their pride.

The silence was broken by an announcement.

"Team Kiseki, please make your way to briefing room 1. Thank you."

"We're going to be seeing them, aren't we?" Kise asked, not daring to look up at them.

"Likely. Nonetheless, we have to thank them." Standing from his chair, the captain looked over Kise. "Let's go. I'm sure Tetsuya and Shintarou will meet us there."

Kise grit his teeth before sliding off the bed. He was a little unsteady, but waved off any help. Before long, they met up with the other two and headed for the briefing room.

* * *

"I wonder what they're like."

The other team was already sitting in the briefing room. They had taken up one end of the oval table, talking amongst themselves. The one who had just spoken had a compound bow on the table in front of him.

"From what I've heard, their captain is scary," said the male who had met Aomine, Fukui Akio. "You should've seen the guy. Wouldn't dare defy him, by the looks of it."

"He was intense," Zenith said, leaning back on his chair. He looked much more at ease than before. "I'm surprised he didn't chop my head off when I surprised him, honestly."

"I'm sure they'll all be fine," the girl, Crystal, chirped. "I mean, we did save them. They wouldn't hurt us."

"Well, they didn't seem particularly fond of that. On their info page, it says they've never failed," the male with the compound bow said calmly. "This was probably the first time. Don't expect them to be grateful at first. They'll need some time to recover."

Nods around the room confirmed it.

"They should be here soon."

As Zenith said that, the door opened. All of them stood. Slowly, the other team began to step into the room.

First was Kuroko. He had a minor limp, but it didn't look too bad. Their facility had state of the art healing technology. The teal head did not go unnoticed this time as he stood at the back of the room.

Next was Kise. Holding himself high, he strode into the room. He didn't look at the other team until he was standing next to Kuroko.

There was a shriek. Suddenly, everyone had their weapons drawn. The team members that had been outside the room quickly dashed in to assess the threat.

"Ryouta!" A blur. Kise barely had time to turn before a figure hurled them self into his arms. The tension that had been building in the room completely disappeared, and confusion took its place. Kise himself had been about to push the figure away, but it seemed familiar.

"Crystal-cchi...?" He asked slowly, staring at the brown hair in his face. Could it be..?

"You remember me!" She cried happily, hugging him tighter. The blonde's eyes widened in shock and he hugged her back.

"You think I'd forget?" He sniffed, no longer the cold, untrusting Kise he had been before.

"Oi Kise," Aomine growled, "who's this?"

The girl turned and looked up at the taller male, not letting go of Kise. She beamed at his scowl. "I'm Crystal Gold. Nice to meet you!" Aomine looked slightly taken aback, but his scowl only deepened.

"Ryouta, how do you know her?" Akashi asked, looking at her impassively.

"Uh..." Kise let go of her, but she didn't let go of him. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "You know when we were young and went to a different country for a year? I met her in Paris," he explained. His attention turned back to the shorter girl when she poked him. "We have a lot to talk about! Find me after," she grinned as she let go and skipped back to her side of the room. Wait. Her side of the room? What was she doing here...? Oh... She was part of the team that saved them. His heart dropped.

* * *

Akashi watched the two interact with unease. He didn't trust a single member of the other team, not until he got his info sheet. He needed to find Momoi afterwards. But now, they had something to do.

All of them had already sheathed their weapons. Taking a step forward, he offered a small bow. According to Daiki, one of them did not speak Japanese. All of them, however, could understand English and so that was the language he decided to use.

"On behalf of my team, I would like to formally thank you for helping our team."

One of the other's team members scoffed. "Help?" He muttered, "more like-" there was a soft swish sound. A flash of light.

"I was not-" Akashi had thrown a shuriken at the other, who, according to Daiki once again, was named Fukui Akio. Fully expecting it to hit his mark, which was to give him a light cut across the cheek, he had begun talking once again. What he hadn't expected, however, was for someone to catch it.

The shuriken was an inch away from Fukui's face. It had stopped spinning, the edge glinting sharply in the light. "You should watch you mouth, Akio." Zenith looked to Akashi, bringing the small, deadly, weapon between his fingers closer to examine it. "And it's rude to throw things at people. Please continue."

His team was in shock, he could tell. No one ever saw it coming. This new team was full of surprises. But he decided to continue.

"However, please do not expect any favours from us. We have a busy schedule, and will likely be unable to help you." There. He could see the other captain smirk. It irritated him, and he wanted to throw another shuriken, but with the man's reaction time it likely would only make himself look bad.

"So I see you've all met."

A short, stocky woman appeared at the door. She was radiating power and authority. Only two of the people other than her knew who she was.

"Eh, Kuroko-cchi, she seems scary... Wait- wait are they bowing?!"

Both of the team captains offered their lowest possible bow to the female who had just entered the room. There was some sort of outcry from everyone else in the room, but a short glare from her sent them all into a bow.

Zenith and Akashi straightened at the same time. "Queen," they said, giving another small bow. _Queen?!_ "What brings you here?" Zenith asked. Everyone else was practically cowering. Who was this woman?

"I have a mission for you both. Your teams will be working together on this one. This is a big task, and I will not have your teams screwing up on this. Understood?"

Both of them looked surprised, but they bowed once more. Grunting, she left after placing the file on the table. Seeing as the file was closer to Akashi, he took a look first. Zenith was still trying to understand how their teams could possibly work together. And the rest of them... They were still trying to understand that their captains had bowed. Except for perhaps two people. Kuroko knew that Akashi would rarely bow, and with how much authority that woman's aura had... She could only be the organisation's head. He didn't know the other captain well enough, but he figured he was the same. The other person who seemed to understand was the one with the compound bow. The way Zenith had looked... It was rare. He had come to the same conclusion as the teal head. The rest of them weren't as fast.

"It appears we have to topple one of the world's most dangerous criminal organisation. One of our rivals." Akashi's voice startled them. Zenith went over to have a look. Akashi uncomfortably slid the file over to him. He would have to get used to sharing.

"Appears so. Before we get started, however, maybe we should introduce ourselves." Zenith looked over both teams, before nodding at Crystal.

"Hi! So as you might know, I'm Crystal Gold! Please just call me Crystal and not my last name or something," she said with a huge smile, one to rival Kise's. "I'm sure we'll get along nicely!"

"Adrian," said the tall one, heaving a sigh. Now that he was out of the suit, Aomine could see who he really was. He was tall, broad shouldered with brown eyes and hair. Much larger than the rest of them. But he seemed almost soft. Probably easy enough to beat.

"Fukui Akio," said the next male, his amber eyes watching the other team with distrust. He wondered if they were even a challenge.

"You all need to chill. We're going to be working together, aren't we? I'm Ben, and this is my brother Caleb." Ben gestured to the male with the compound bow. They did look extremely similar, but not quite the same. Most people couldn't quite put their finger on what set them apart. "Seriously, chill."

As if he hadn't just heard that, Zenith spoke next. "I'm Bailey. You're welcome to call me Zenith if my real name feels uncomfortable. I am the captain of this team as you may have noticed. We know all of you, as you're quite popular in the organisation. I do hope working together won't be a problem." He glanced quickly from Aomine, Kise, Midorima and then finally to Akashi. "I assume you will want info on us. Shall we start this task tomorrow?"

"5am. We will be in this room. Until then." Akashi swept his team out of the door, and they were gone.

* * *

 **Man I can't write Akashi properly. I'm still learning :/ Next chapter will include info sheet for Bailey's team!**


	5. Chapter 4

As soon as Akashi left, he contacted Momoi. They met up in another room, with a grim look on her face.

"Satsuki. Do you have the info page?"

"It's right here."

* * *

Bailey Fallen; Zenith  
Age: 21  
Weapon(s) of choice: Two short swords, throwing knives, and a rarely used assault rifle. Shields activated on his -.  
Skills: Unknown.  
Relationship with team: Captain. Trusts each of his members fully. Was last to join team along with Syrin.  
Notes: Has - - - -.

Adrian Taylor; Papa Bear  
Age: 25  
Weapon(s) of choice: Complete metal suit. Has a device that can change from a pulse shotgun to a flame thrower.  
Skills: Defends most of the team, his shotgun can send a man flying on the lowest setting.  
Relationship with team: Married to Crystal Gold. Most of the team looks up to him as a protector.  
Notes: N/A

Fukui Akio; Light  
Age: 24  
Weapon(s) of choice: Two katanas and a stiletto  
Skills: Excellent fighter  
Relationship with team: Kind of smug, but gets along well. Has known all for a while.  
Notes: Doesn't have an energy shield, can cut bullets apart.

Crystal Gold; Mother Hen  
Age: 27  
Weapon(s) of choice: Electric whip, handgun  
Skills: Main healer of the team, and translator. Also good at seduction.  
Relationship with team: As her codename suggests, she mothers over everyone in the team. They all like her.  
Notes: Married to Adrian.

Ben Cole; Joker  
Age: 23  
Weapon(s) of choice: A wide variety of explosives.  
Skills: Good at setting and making traps, and blowing up buildings.  
Relationship with team: Tends to joke around, lighten the mood.  
Notes: Twin brother.

Caleb Cole; Psych  
Age: 23  
Weapon(s) of choice: Compound bow  
Skills: Emotionally observant and able to use this.  
Relationship with team: Most respected. Got them out of many internal situations.  
Notes: Twin brother.

Syrin -; Angel (Deceased)  
Age at death: 19  
Weapon(s) of choice: -  
Skills: -  
Relationship with team: -  
Notes: Was killed on mission.

Team overall has a great bond and works exceptionally well with each other. Internal disputes are settled with Psych, and even though he is the youngest and newest they all listen to the captain.

They have exactly 93 successes to date, and 3 failures.

* * *

Akashi stared at the page thoughtfully. Two of them were married to each other. That was extremely rare, especially in their line of work. What if one of them died? They've also failed. And apparently, one of their failures cost one of their members life. However, he was disturbed at their skills. Of course, he didn't know for sure, but they sounded like a very strong team. How had they not heard about them before? Then he realised another problem.

"Satsuki, is this all you could get on them?" He asked, shooting her a glance.

"They're somehow relatively unknown. Less so than our team, but this is all I could get." Her grim look didn't fade.

"And these..." He brushed his hand over the dashes. "This team has secrets. We cannot trust them."

"But Akashi-kun, we have to work with them. We can't work with them if we can't trust them."

"We don't have to give them all our information. Speaking of which, do you have the other organisation's info?"

If it were possible, Momoi's face became more grim. "Haizaki Shougo is one of their best. They don't exactly have teams like ours, however, he's in one."

 _Haizaki Shougo..._ Long time since then. "Who else is in their team?"

"I didn't get all of their names, but the major ones. Imayoshi Shouichi, Hanamiya Makoto and Nash Gold. They're all excellent at what they do, and extremely cruel."

Akashi thought on it. "I'll need that file. And we may as well give it to that other team. If they haven't already gotten it."

Momoi frowned a little. "Would you like me to give it to them?"

"No. We are having another meeting tomorrow morning. I will give it to them then. You will be needed. 5 am. Don't be late."

* * *

"Ryouta!"

This time, Kise was ready as Crystal barrelled past everyone else to give him a hug. Laughing, he hugged her back. "Crystal-cchi! Let's go somewhere else, ne?" He grinned. The rest of his team were eyeing the female suspiciously, however Crystal paid them no attention. "Come on then!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards another room. Kise went along willingly. The rest of his team just stared after him.

When they arrived at another room, Crystal pulled the blonde into yet another hug. "How have you been?" She asked, a bit muffled as her face was buried in his shirt.

Kise sighed softly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I've been great! I have a good team," he said with a smile, however his mind was on their most recent failure. Crystal noticed he wasn't as happy as usual. "Is everything okay?" Letting go, she went and sat down but continued to stare at him. She patted the seat next her. Kise quietly went and sat.

"Talk."

There was a moment of silence. "We've never failed a mission before, Crystal-cchi."

So that was the problem. "Never?"

"Never."

"Must be a good team. Though I worry about your team's pride."

Kise sighed. They had all been hit hard. "Yeah. We'll recover but..." Crystal just nodded. Then she hugged him again. Kise remembered back to the first time they met.

* * *

"Hi!"

Who was that? It sounded like a girl.

"Hello! Up here!"

Kise looked up. There was a girl waving at him from a window. He had never seen her before. "Uh.. Hello!" However, he waved back with a broad smile.

He was seven years old when the team was split up and sent abroad to learn from a different country. Kise had been sent to Paris. He had been sulking the past few days on having been split up, by staying in his room and only coming out for training. He had been sent to a mansion, secluded from most of the city with large training grounds and many rooms. He had known, of course, that there were other kids and such but he never really wanted to interact with them. Pretty much because he had been sulking. However he decided to take a walk that day, because the gardens were really beautiful.

In the short time that he had been there, he had managed to learn a few French words. That was another reason to send them overseas. Languages were important. French, very important. However, he couldn't learn the entire language in just a few days. No, so instead they were to be there for a year. A year without seeing the rest of his friends. He would miss them a lot.

"Come up here!" The girl called. At least he understood that. Flashing her another smile, he dove into the maze that was the mansion and tried to find his way up. It was hard though, and he soon got lost. Lost in a mansion that he'd only been in for a few days. He'd probably never find his way out either, considering the amount of French he knew. They spoke English, but not Japanese. Unfortunately he didn't know much English either.

"I found you!" Of course, Kise didn't quite understand the French, but just hearing her voice was enough to stop the panic from rising. Having been sitting against the wall, he jumped up in relief. "Hi! Uh..." How did you say, 'I can't speak French' in French again? Luckily for the blonde, there was no need.

"Oh, can you not speak French?" She asked, surprising the male as she spoke in Japanese. Languages were so complicated. What the blonde noticed, however, was that she didn't look much older than him, and yet, spoke what was likely three languages already. "Yeah... You speak Japanese?" He asked.

He was rewarded with a brilliant smile. "Of course! When I heard someone from Japan was coming over, I had to learn. My teachers say I'm sort of a.. What do you call it? A prodigy. When it comes to learning languages anyway," she said, quite fast. Kise almost didn't catch all of it. Prodigy... Maybe she could teach him?

"I'm Kise Ryouta. Could you... Could you teach me French and English...?" He asked, looking incredibly unsure.

"Of course! I'm Crystal. Can I call you Ryouta? It sounds so cool!"

"S-sure..!" He hadn't expected her to be so happy and excited. But perhaps that was a good thing.

"Well come on!" Crystal grabbed his arm and dragged him up. She was surprisingly strong. "I'll show you around!"

* * *

"-outa?"

"Huh?" Kise snapped out of his daze.

"You look out of it. Is your head injury acting up?" Crystal asked, sincere concern in her voice. The blonde sent her one of his dazzling smiles.

"Oh, no, I was just thinking back to when we first met."

"When you got lost, right?"

Kise laughed. "Yeah, and then you taught me languages."

Crystal smiled fondly, before it turned into a smirk. "I betcha still can't beat me."

Kise raised an eyebrow. "Eh? We were pretty even before, though you'd been practising longer than me," he said.

"Ha! I was always better than you," she grinned, a challenging glint in her eyes. "We've got spare time, right? One on one?"

"I won't lose this time," Kise smirked, and they both headed for a training room.


	6. Chapter 5

As they neared the training room, the sound of metal clashing against metal resounded and echoed down the hall. Both Crystal and Kise slowed down as they neared, until they reached the door. Slowly, they opened it and peeked inside.

There were two people sparring. Kise recognized one of them, simply because he was sort of facing the door. The way the room was set up, the entrance was hidden in shadows with ceiling lights behind protective glass. It was a rectangular sort of room, and weapons hung on the far right side of the room. The door itself was hidden in the left corner. Many things were behind protective glass, as a lot of things happened in training rooms. Both of them watched Fukui Akio, and who Kise could only guess to be Zenith as they sparred.

He would never admit that he had thought they were pretty good. Having been unconscious when they were "saved", he missed the chance to watch them himself. However now, even though they were just sparring, he could appreciate their skill.

They were sparring with actual swords, katanas to be exact, and both wielded two. Neither of them looked hurt, so they must've been at least somewhat careful. Those blades were incredibly sharp, and he knew so from Akashi's. It was almost like a dance; the way they both moved, fluently parrying and then attacking seemed completely natural. He had to admit, he had severely underestimated their skill. They were far better than any team they had ever come across. Why hadn't he heard of them before?

"Ryouta?" Crystal asked, poking him. "You look deep in thought. Which is rare," she teased, giggling softly at his indignant look in return. Her look then became somewhat serious. Leaning in, she whispered in his ear. "I bet you thought my team was no good." A light blush spread, but he didn't deny it. "Maybe...?" He mumbled, looking away. Grinning, the girl poked him again before calling out to the two training.

"Whoo! Good job Akio!" Stepping from the shadows, Crystal began clapping as she neared them.

Her outburst took Akio by surprise. He hesitated for a second, a second, and that was all it took for Zenith to disarm him completely. A light flick, and both his katanas went flying out of his hands. His surprise turned to annoyance.

"Crystal! How many times do you have to do that to me in a week!" He exclaimed, shooting her a glare as he went to retrieve his weapons. Crystal just laughed in response, grinning like a maniac. She turned and gestured for Kise to join her, and the male slowly stepped out before heading over. He didn't know these people; therefore, he didn't trust them.

"You know I only do that to test your concentration," she teased. "Imagine if something like that happened in a real fight! You could die!"

"If that happens, it'd probably be because of you," Akio retorted, before he noticed the newcomer. Pausing, his eyes narrowed. "Kise, right?" Kise only gave an affirmative nod, barely noticing the transition from English to Japanese.

"Ryouta and I are here to spar a bit if you guys don't mind." Crystal smiled at the lot of them. How could she be so happy all the time?

"Shouldn't be a problem." Zenith finally spoke up. He had still been facing away from them, but now he turned. Kise could only stare. Even in the briefing room, that scar intrigued him to no end. How did he get it? Especially across the face? And having now seen his skill... What the blonde had also noticed was that Zenith was wearing what appeared to be some sort of jacket. He didn't see the point of it. Was he not feeling the slightest bit hot? Fukui appeared to be sweating a lot, and he was only wearing a singlet and shorts. It was confusing.

That's when he realised the scarred male was staring at him. Kise gulped and looked away. His gaze was intense, though he could stand it, unlike Akashi's.

"I think we'd be okay with watching," Zenith said finally, taking his gaze away from the other male. "Akio needs a break anyway," he added with a smirk, which was met with a huff.

"Thank you Bailey!" Crystal ran up and hugged him. "Though you shouldn't be so mean to Akio. He works hard you know, and he'll beat you one day!"

Kise felt the ugly head of jealousy rear up slightly.

"Says you," Bailey said with a laugh. "Maybe if you hadn't distracted him, he could've gone on a bit more."

As they interacted, Kise felt a slight presence to his side. Before he could turn around, he heard a familiar voice which made him feel more comfortable with an unfamiliar team.

"Oi Kise. What are you doing here?" Aomine stepped up next to him, his usual scowl in place. However there was something deeper hidden in his eyes as he watched the other team banter.

"Aomine-cchi! I should be asking you that. But Crystal-cchi wanted to spar, and it's been a while since we've fought against each other," Kise answered, glancing over. "Why are you here?"

Aomine grunted, before saying, "I've been here a while now."

Kise's eyes widened in shock. "You've been watching the entire time?"

Aomine just nodded, although he hadn't been planning on just watching them. Originally he had wanted to train for a bit, but after seeing them practice, he decided to watch.

"How good do you think they are?" The blonde asked, surprise clear in his eyes. Aomine scoffed. "They're not that good."

"Good enough to save your asses, apparently." This was an unfamiliar voice, and Kise froze at being caught. But he didn't turn around.

"Aomine-cchi was just joking, of course," he said, trying to diffuse the situation. Aomine scoffed once again, and Kise had a sinking feeling. _Crap_. Slowly, he turned around.

Fukui had his arms crossed and a challenging glare aimed at Aomine. "Joking, you say?" _Please don't let this turn into a fight..._

"No, I'm not. While I'm grateful," Aomine spat out the words, "that you "saved" us, it doesn't mean you're better than us."

 _No Aomine-cchi don't do this, crap crap crap..._

"Sure. If you beat me, I'll agree with what you say." The smirk that accompanied his words were enough to set Aomine off.

"Tch. That'd be easy. The only who can beat me, is me," Aomine drawled as he grabbed his swallow. Kise mentally face palmed. Of course it would come to this.

* * *

Kuroko had been gathering some information for Momoi when he passed the training room. The sounds of metal, footsteps and a very familiar voice made him hesitate. Looking down at the stack of papers in his hands, he decided those could wait and set them near the door. Opening it, he couldn't help but be surprised at what he saw.

Aomine was in the middle of the room, circling another male that could only be Fukui Akio. Both were covered in small scratches and nicks, but nothing serious. Aomine held his swallow in both hands, looking more focused than Kuroko had ever seen. Fukui held two katanas, currently crossed over one another. Both were looking for weaknesses, and the slightest shift would break their circle.

He noticed others in the room as well. Bailey, was it? And the girl, Crystal. Kise was there as well. All were watching the match with varying expressions. Quietly, he made his way over to them.

"Ready to give up yet?" Fukui taunted Aomine, but he was just as focused. The blue headed male just sneered in response, but he didn't make a move. Both look at least somewhat tired, but neither were willing to give.

"Kise-kun." The blonde almost jumped out of his skin. "Kuroko-cchi! I uh, didn't see you there... What are you doing here? I thought Momo-cchi needed you."

"She did," Kuroko said, noting the fact that both Crystal and Bailey had seemed surprised to see him there. "But it's not urgent."

Neither of the two said any more as they continued to watch the fight.

* * *

Aomine's swallow was slightly unusual. On both ends, there was a small hook at the tip. It curved forward over the main part of the blade, with a gleaming tip. It was mainly used for snagging clothing, or catching the edge of a roof to pull himself over. Another use, is that if it managed to hit a blade at the right angle, it could snag that and Aomine would have an opportunity to pull the weapon out of his opponent's hands. And Aomine saw his chance.

Stepping forward on his left, he used both hands for more power as the swallow went down on the crossed katanas. Instead on pushing down further, which he knew he could, he twisted to the side slightly to catch that angle. His opponent's eyes widened slightly in shock as Aomine tugged. _He had it, just a bit mor- what?_

The other male had realised what the bluenette had planned on doing. Instead of instinctively pulling his weapon back- which would have undoubtedly ended with it flying out of his hand- he stepped closer and thrust forward. A horrible screeching sound echoed as the blades dragged against each other and Aomine just barely moved to the side, the blade nicking the side of his neck. Fukui unhooked their weapons and danced back, that annoying grin only growing wider. "Honestly, did you actually think that would work?"

Aomine growled, but he noticed that the other's breath had grown harsher. He was running out of stamina. Just a little longer..

* * *

"Ne, they're looking tired," Kise commented as Aomine landed another scratch against Fukui. "Should we do something about that?"

"Maybe..." Crystal said, looking worried. "Akio's stubborn, he won't stop until he's beaten Daiki."

"Aomine-kun is the same. We should intervene before they exhaust themselves," Kuroko said. "They likely won't notice me..."

They went quiet as Fukui started what looked like a dangerous set of moves. It looked like Aomine was barely keeping up with blocking, taking more than a few steps back. They were fast- almost too fast. He wanted to end it, there and then. But as his last downward strike came down, he faltered slightly and there was less power in the hit. Aomine blocked it easily and pushed, causing Fukui to take a step back. Shocked, the group noted that his legs were shaking. How long had it been..? Aomine wasn't much better. His chest was heaving, and he looked unsteady on his feet.

Bailey and Kise moved at the same time. The two idiots that were fighting were going to exhaust themselves before they had a mission and they couldn't let that happen. Coming up behind their team mates, both grabbed them and pulled them away from the other. As expected, they began yelling.

"Let me go Kise! We're not done yet!" Aomine snarled, fighting the hold the blonde had on him. The strength had run out of him however, and so Kise held on easily. "Baka, Aomine-cchi! We have a mission soon and you're exhausting yourself!" Kise hissed, pulling him back further. "Do you want Akashi-cchi mad at you?" That calmed the bluenette right down. He stopped fighting, but it didn't mean it was over. "Let me go."

Hesitantly, the blonde released his hold on the other male. Aomine growled and grabbed his weapon before turning his back and storming out of the training room. He didn't spare any of them a second glance or parting words.

Bailey let go of Fukui at the same time Aomine left. "Why'd you do that Bailey?! I had him," the male grumbled, sheathing his katanas. "He needs to be taught a lesson."

"You both would've likely just collapsed and made fools of yourselves," Bailey replied easily, shaking his head. He still looked like he was about to collapse anyway. "Go take a shower and make sure you don't go looking for him. That's an order, Akio," his captain said, a serious tone entering it as he saw the look on his face.

"Yes sir," Akio said sarcastically as he left the room.

It left Kuroko, Kise, Crystal and Bailey still in the room.

"I need to go give the papers to Momoi-san. I look forward to working with your team." With that, Kuroko left.

"You guys wanted to spar, right? Sorry about that. I need to go do some stuff anyway, so have fun." Bailey left as well.

"That was fast," Crystal commented as she watched Bailey leave. But her signature grin quickly made it back onto her face as she looked to Kise. "I'm still gonna beat your ass."

Still somewhat confused at the quick exits, it took Kise a few seconds to comprehend what she said. He blinked, then smirked. "As if!" Silently hoping Aomine wouldn't do something stupid, he grabbed a sword and began to spar.

* * *

 **A/N: Hi guys! Just wanted to say, thanks for the follows. I'm glad some people are still reading this c: If there's any issues you have with the story, feel free to send me a PM or review. Hope you're enjoying the fanfic c:**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Soooo a friend of mine didn't like team Rainbow... The name that is. So I've changed it. I'll be editing the other chapters too to reflect this. Enjoy c:**

* * *

"Team Kiseki, please make your way to briefing room 2."

One by one, the team showed up. Akashi was already in the room, and soon Midorima arrived. He gave a simple nod to his captain before taking his seat. Muraskibara and Kuroko arrived at the same time, the purple giant munching on snacks and the teal head holding another stack of paper. Momoi entered soon after with a few files and a serious look on her face. Each took their place at the table, with Momoi and Midorima sitting closest to Akashi.

Kise arrived next, having cleaned up and looking upbeat. However that look changed when he noticed Aomine still wasn't there as he took his seat.

"Daiki isn't usually late to meetings like this. Do you know something, Ryouta?" Akashi said calmly, fixing the blonde with a stare. Of course, he had noticed the way Kise's face fell when he saw the navy head not in the room.

"Eh.. Aomine-cchi might be a little upset right now.." Kise mumbled, staring at the table.

"What happened?" Midorima asked, a bright pink pen on the table in front of him.

"One of the other team member challenged Aomine-kun to a duel." Kuroko spoke up, noticing the blonde looked uncomfortable.

"And?" Akashi pressed. He knew Aomine. He wouldn't lose.

"Kise pulled me away before I could win." The blue hair devil appeared in the doorway, with a murderous look. Kise mumbled something and shrunk down into his seat, trying to appear small. Akashi turned his gaze on him once again. "Ryouta? Your explanation?"

Kise shakily looked up before speaking. "They were both exhausted, and we didn't want them to collapse..." He mumbled.

"I was fine, Kise! Tch, I would've wiped that smug smile off his face..." Aomine muttered as he took his seat.

"Aomine-kun, you were exhausted," Kuroko stated with the same impassive look. "Please do not blame Kise-kun."

Aomine scoffed but gave no other answer.

"We will deal with this later. For now, Satsuki has info on the other team."

On cue, Momoi passed around copies of the files. One by one they opened them, silence engulfing the room as they read. Aomine's eyes went straight down the page to a certain person.

"They almost have as many successes as us, however more failures. They are based in France, which is probably why we haven't heard or run in to them before. As their info page doesn't include pictures or videos or anything of the sort, we don't know how good they are." Momoi looked serious as she explained. Normally she had much more information, but these guys were a mystery.

"They aren't that good," Aomine scoffed once again.

"Aomine-cchi, they kinda are," Kise said as he looked over the page. "Only three failures. And we saw them spar."

"Eh? So what. It's more failures than us, and I would've beaten him anyway," Aomine said.

"To be honest, Aomine-cchi, he looked like he was about to beat you," Kise mumbled.

"Oi!" Aomine growled.

"Enough, Daiki, Ryouta," Akashi ordered. "We will deal with this later."

Both the two shut up and continued to look over it.

"Ne, Sat-chin, what are these dashes?" Muraskibara asked.

Momoi's frown deepened. "I don't know. Some records have been erased. Honestly I've never come across this before..." It was disturbing. Being the best information gatherer, usually everything was available for her eyes. Especially in the organisation. This was unusual.

"Someone died?" This time Midorima spoke up. "Why is there no information on them?"

"I couldn't find any," Momoi sighed. "I'll look again, but it's as if they never existed."

"Or someone didn't want us finding out," Kuroko suggested.

"Maybe," Momoi pouted. "I still should be able to find out. I'll get back to you guys. On to another subject though. The other organisation. Their main team, which honestly don't act like a team, consists of a few people. We know one."

"Who is this one?" Midorima asked.

"Haizaki Shougo."

"Eh, didn't he die?" Kise was shocked. They had history. "I shot him in the chest..."

"I looked up on that, he managed to recover." Momoi really didn't like that fact, considering Kise had been the one to be betrayed. Haizaki once had been apart of their team, but money called to him, and they didn't get too much. Out on a mission, Haizaki had attempted to kill Kise when it had just been the two of them. Despite being surprised, and no doubt hurt, Kise had done what had to be done and killed him. Or so he thought.

"He's their best fighter, but not captain. There are some members that aren't listed, and I only know that there are six members. I have info on four only." Another obstacle. Ever since meeting that team, her skills were being blocked over and over again. It was frustrating.

"Hanamiya Makoto, Imayoshi Shouichi and Nash Gold."

"Hah? Imayoshi?" Aomine grunted.

Akashi fixed him with a stare. "Do you know him, Daiki?"

Aomine shifted a bit before sitting up. "I met him on a solo mission once. Introduced himself, wiped the blood off his dagger and just disappeared. Found the bodies later, but he left my target alive. Never met him again, but he seemed like a dark character to me," he said. "I'm not too surprised he's part of the other organisation... I just didn't expect to hear his name again."

"Interesting," Midorima said, pushing up his glasses. "How did he kill them?"

"There was poison on his dagger," Aomine answered.

"Hmpf," The green head muttered. "Why did he leave your target alive?"

Aomine shrugged. "Though I was looking forward to that mission," he muttered, annoyed that all the other's had been killed.

"Imayoshi is their captain. Also I think there was someone called Jason Silver also on the team, but there's rumors only," Momoi cut in. "They say he's close with Nash Gold."

"Wait a sec..." Kise frowned, deep in thought. "It might just be a coincidence... But Crystal-cchi's last name also is Gold..."

"It's likely a coincidence. Otherwise, I'd think they'd be together," Akashi said smoothly.

"True," Kise said, but he wasn't quite sure. Looking over the sheet again, he blinked. "She's married? Eh?"

"That can wait," Akashi said. "Be careful around their team. However, if you can get any information, it will be useful. They will be staying here for the mission, which may be a long one. After the briefing with them, we will train."

Everyone wilted a little at that. Akashi's training sessions were nothing to laugh at. "Yes, captain."

* * *

"Come on Akio, they're rainbow freaks! Look at their hair! Their names, even! Seriously. Aka, Midori, Muraski, Ao and Ki, Kiro! Kuroko confuses me a little. Kuro, but his hair isn't black. Their parents obviously had a sense of humor."

Akio laughed at that, lying on a couch. A certain someone's couch. But he didn't know. Ben, one of the twins, was sitting across from him. "Yeah, it's stupid. And they're all in a team. Though I'm kinda happy. Aomine isn't that bad," he said with a yawn, twirling a knife. "I haven't really had a good opponent for a while. That I can beat that is," he added.

Ben smirked a little. He was the smaller one of the twins, but it didn't make him any less smart. "Still can't beat Bailey?"

Akio just rolled his eyes, the knife in his hand slowly coming to a stop. "I swear it's impossible. Just the tiniest break of my concentration and my katanas go flying. Both of them. I don't get how he does it. And even when I am concentrating, it's hard to keep up with him."

"I'd say you'd get there some day, but honestly I don't think anyone can beat him. Maybe... Maybe that Akashi guy. He's kinda scary, and we haven't seen anything of him really." Ben recalled the meeting, and the aura of the red headed captain.

"Maybe. His team kinda seems scared of him, honestly," Akio admitted. "You know what, though? The blonde seems to have potential. I mean I haven't seen him fight or anything, I can probably ask Crystal, but there's just something about him. He's got a pretty face too."

Ben gave him a hard look.

"What?" Akio asked. "Can't I be interested? He's got a similar eye colour to me as well. You know yellow eyes are rare. He's cute."

"You're hopeless," Ben sighed.

"Hey! You can't say that. You're not interested in anyone." Akio scowled. "I'm still trying to figure out what interests you. I'm pretty sure you're not into girls, yet you're not into guys either. Trans?" His eyes lit up.

Ben almost choked on his drink. "How many times do I have to tell you? Just because I don't have a partner doesn't mean I'm not interested! I could be asexual as well."

"Boring," Akio yawned. "I wonder if any of them have partners. Probably not. Aomine seems like the one night stand kind of guy, and Kise, although pretty, just doesn't seem like he could commit to a relationship. Akashi is just plain scary. Muraskibara, well, I have no clue. Probably not. And I don't know if anyone can stand the green one."

"What about Kuroko?" Ben asked sceptically.

"That guy? I can hardly keep track of him. He'd probably be forgotten a lot on dates or something," Akio joked. Then every single one of his senses started prickling, and he could tell there was someone else in the room.

"Don't talk shit about Testu."

* * *

After the meeting, they all split up once again. Their evenings were usually free for them to do whatever they wanted unless they had a mission or something. All Aomine wanted to do was rest on his couch and look at some magazines. Unfortunately, those plans couldn't really happen. Not when there was someone on it.

For a bit, he listened to their conversation. He stood just outside, hidden mostly from view. And he only got angrier. Of course he recognised one of the voices, and the fact that he was talking shit about his team...

Finally he got fed up. Storming into the room, he caught sight of the cocky bastard also lying on _his_ couch. "Don't talk shit about Tetsu."

Akio sat up, his eyes narrowed as he looked around for the voice. When he caught sight of Aomine, he let out a loud sigh and lay back down. "Oh, it's just you. Eavesdropping? I didn't peg you as a creep."

Growling, Aomine strode towards them. The other, a small looking guy, simply raised an eyebrow at his entrance. All Aomine wanted to do was throw the grey haired male out of the room and be done with him.

"Let me guess, you want a rematch? Sorry, no can do. Maybe later, when you've finished looking at these," Akio said lazily, tossing a magazine he found under the couch towards the blue headed male. Surprised, the only thing he could do was catch it. It was one of Aomine's gravure magazines. It only pissed him off more.

"Bastard," he growled, moving to grab him. He wanted to beat the smug asshole into a pulp.

Akio swatted his hand away as he stood up, shooting him a grin. "Come on Ben. I think I was wrong about the one night stand thing. He probably only has himself."

Aomine could only see red. His fist clenched, before it went flying at the other's face.

"Aomine-kun."

Kuroko caught Aomine's hand. "Let's not start a fight."

"What the fuck, Testu?!" The ace exclaimed as the shadow twisted his arm roughly and shoved him back. Pain shot up his arm, but Kuroko knew it would only last a short while.

"Come on, Akio," Ben murmured, and the two left the room. Of course, it left enough time for Akio to send Aomine another shit eating grin. But the bluenette had other things to worry about.

"Aomine-kun, I don't think you should go around punching people," Kuroko stated calmly.

"He deserves it. Were you listening? That fucking bastard. I'll beat him so badly he'll actually shut his fucking mouth," Aomine snarled.

"Beat him then. But avoid him until then. I don't think Akashi-kun will be too happy if you start causing tension between the teams."

"Fuck Akashi. If I beat that asshole, I'm probably going to kill him at the same time." Aomine shot another glare at Kuroko before storming off. The phantom watched him go and sighed. He had a feeling that their two teams would not work very well together.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hi guys! So so sorry for the wait, I was on holiday for a little while. Hope you enjoy the chapter c:**

* * *

Akashi's eyes snapped open at 3 am. Rolling off the bed, he went to do his normal morning ritual. Their base was underground, sunlight unable to reach and so the lights clicked on when they sensed movement. His room was practically empty. There was a bed, bedside table, desk in the corner and a chair. He had a small stand for his katana, which was next to his bed. Cold, grey walls surrounded him, but it didn't bother the red head. The main thing on his mind was the meeting. Already he had begun planning, strategy after strategy, but with so many unknown factors it was hard to devise a plan. He didn't know just how good the other team was. He'd seen a glimpse of the other captain's reaction time, and Aomine had fought with their ace. He would have to review footage on that later.

He would have to eventually see all of them in battle first, of course. Or something of the kind. He remembered back to the time when they met at the briefing room. Most of them seemed able to fight, however, one seemed physically off. As if he was weaker. Perhaps he had other skills. Or maybe was weak either way. It didn't matter. Akashi wouldn't rely on them for this. No matter how powerful this other organisation was, his team would be the one to take it down. If they were useful, then maybe he would use them. But it didn't matter.

As the red head left the room, his thoughts continued to run wild. Everyone on his team was fine by now, of course, with a state of the art medical facility and the best doctors. Technology had advanced far. Midorima's arm would've been healed by now, and Kuroko's leg. All in perfect health. He figured the other team was fine too, considering they hadn't been hurt.

Good.

As he made his way towards the compound door, a single thought resonated through his head.

 _They better not get in my way._

* * *

Little did Akashi know, that the other captain was thinking the exact same thing.

So what, they had a slightly higher success rate, but Bailey definitely didn't think that they were better. He had seen first hand the way their team worked, and it wouldn't last long. It wasn't a team. With most of their personalities, they were incompatible, almost as if fighting each other to get kills. He knew that their profession wasn't a glorious one by any amount. It was dirty work, but at least the organisation they were apart of took contracts to take down bad people. If you could consider them bad people, anyway.

Having been out on his morning run above ground, Bailey slowed down with a sigh and ran a hand through his short hair as he headed back in. The entrance to the compound was hidden from view, and only those who knew it was there could enter. Along with many other security measures, of course. The base was located under a nondescript mountain, surrounded by forest. The sensors acknowledged Bailey's ID and let him in. The cold mountain air had done little to settle his thoughts. Akio clashing with Aomine was mainly on his mind, and if that would continue, then their teams would be at each other's throats the entire time. He was hoping Crystal and Caleb would be able to ease the tension a bit. However the scarred male had no intention of letting them take all the credit for the missions. Not at all.

He hadn't brought his team up to the top for nothing. He wouldn't let Akashi get in the way of what his team deserved. If they helped, they helped, otherwise they would be useless. He sure as hell wouldn't let that other team take all the credit.

As he was walking down the corridor, a shiver went down his spine.

Time seemed to slow as Bailey passed by Akashi. The temperature dropped suddenly. Had there been anyone else around, they would've turned tail and fled simply because of their auras. Neither of the two looked at each other.

Until Bailey paused a few metres away.

Hearing the footsteps stop, Akashi did also.

The blonde turned around in a flash, and his wrist snapped forward. A shuriken flew towards the other's head.

The deadly weapon slowed, spinning to a stop. Akashi had caught it next to his head.

Akashi brought the shuriken into his field of vision. It was the one he had thrown at Akio earlier.

"Just returning the favour."

And with that, Bailey continued on his way.

* * *

"Baaaaaaaaaailey," Akio groaned, searching for the scarred male. "Where are youuuuuu..."

It was nearing 4 am and Akio had just woken up. Pulling on a singlet and cargo pants, he had headed out of his temporary room before remembering he needed to talk to his captain about something.

Finally he spotted the familiar figure. However as he started towards him, Akio could sense there was something off.

"Hey Bailey," he called cautiously, "something wrong?"

"Hm?" Bailey turned around. "No, why?"

Akio shrugged as he closed the gap. "Nothing, you just seem a little off or something. Anyway, we're going to have to change the mailing address don't you think?"

Nodding, Bailey sighed. "Seems like we'll be here a while. Try not to butt heads with Daiki too much. You're both equals."

"Tch," Akio scowled. "That Ahomine. I'll beat him soon enough."

"You know, you said the same thing about me," Bailey said with a brow raised. Akio waved him off with a hand and said, "you're just different."

Bailey shrugged, before turning around to head back towards his room which had been his original destination. Akio frowned, staring almost longingly at his back. _After t_ _wo years,_ he thought, _you'd have thought he would've gotten over it by now._ With a loud, exasperated sigh, he checked his watch before heading towards the gym.

* * *

It was nearing 5 am when Akio stepped out of the shower, having finished his work out. In their line of work, it rarely mattered what time of day they woke up or went to sleep. They could go days without sleeping if need be, but there were risks. Especially when on a mission. Not sleeping meant eventually they would crash, and not always at the best time.

Midorima had been headed towards the briefing room at that point, and passed by the showers. Glancing inside, he paused, doing a double take.

Akio had just been about to pull his shirt on, but the sniper saw it anyway. There was a spider web of black veins spreading from his heart, and it did not seem very healthy to say the least. What really got Midorima, however, was that he had seen this before. It was a very distinct kind of symptom, and as far as he knew, no one survived. Before he was spotted, the green headed male quickly turned away and moved on. He would tell Akashi later.

* * *

5 am.

Midorima arrived earliest. Still slightly disturbed at what he'd seen, he took a seat near the back of the room. Setting the grey hat -his lucky item- in front of him, he folded his hands patiently and waited.

Caleb entered soon after, with his brother in tow. They sat on the other end of the room.

Slowly, both teams trickled in. When Aomine entered, Akio was already seated. He held back a scowl as Akio shot him a smirk. He wouldn't fall for the taunt this time. Ignoring the look, he took his seat.

Finally, Bailey and Akashi arrived. With a bit of a flourish, Bailey allowed Akashi to enter first before coming in and closing the door behind him.

"Greetings. I hope you all had a good sleep," Akashi stated, before sitting down at the head of the table. Midorima was to his right and Kuroko to his left. Bailey took his seat at the other end. Crystal and Akio were sitting next to him.

This time, Momoi was in the room. She was sitting near the middle, and where most of the controls for the table were. Glancing to Akashi, she started talking first.

"We have some information on this other organisation. Their main team. If you have any other information, please feel free to share."

Pressing a few buttons, the table lit up. "As you can see, we only have information on four of the members. Imayoshi Shouichi, Haizaki Shougo, Hanamiya Makoto and Nash Gold."

There was a visible reaction from Bailey's team at the last name.

"Do you know him?" Akashi asked, and it was clear what he was asking.

Everyone on the other team shot Bailey a glance. "We've... Interacted with Nash before," Bailey said, choosing his words carefully.

"Interacted?" Midorima asked. "How so?"

Thinking it over for a moment, Bailey sighed and raised his arm. He dragged a finger along his scar. "This."

"He gave you the scar?" Akashi asked with a scrutinizing gaze.

"I used to work with him. Back stabs aren't great," the blonde replied with a shrug. "He caught me off guard. He thought I was dead and fled."

"Do you know this, Jason Silver then? It's rumoured he was close with Nash Gold," Momoi said.

Bailey's eye twitched. Akio muttered something under his breath. Caleb looked uncomfortable. _Interesting reactions,_ Akashi thought.

"I'm not surprised there are only rumours. He's dead."

Momoi, who had been looking at some information, glanced up in surprise. "Dead? How do you know?"

This time, Bailey winced ever so slightly. Was he ashamed? "I killed him."

The pink haired girl took a moment to consider this. "I'll update the files then."

Akashi's eyes were focused on Bailey. There was something off. In this world, this profession, killing someone, while not something you would be proud of, it was also something you shouldn't be ashamed of. And yet, that's exactly what it seemed Bailey was feeling. Ashamed. How weak.

"Thank you for the information. No doubt, we will need more on what appears to be the last two members of their team. For this, I will send Tetsuya on a stealth mission to a known associate of their organisation. We've confirmed that this associate has some information we need."

"Although I can appreciate the lack of presence he has, it does not mean he will be going alone."

The red head had been expecting resistance. "It is more reasonable this way. With his low presence, he won't be noticed, unlike anyone from your team."

"And if he gets into trouble?" Bailey challenged.

"He won't. That is certain." The two stared at each other, and the rest of the teams felt a shudder go down their spines.

"Akashi-kun, it wouldn't hurt if someone came along. They would just watch over, no need to get involved." Kuroko was one of the only ones who could speak up against his captain.

"I could go." Caleb volunteered. "Just to keep an eye out. The other organisation is practically our rival, and their known associates and such are bound to have higher security. I trust Kuroko will be able to get in and out with no problem, and someone to watch over might be a good idea as a safety measure."

Akashi narrowed his eyes at that, but it made sense. Although Caleb was an unknown factor, he trusted Kuroko well enough to be able to do it by himself anyway. And it was highly unlikely their team would do something to sabotage the mission.

"Are we in agreement?" His thoughts were interrupted by the other captain.

"Yes. But it will be Tetsuya running the mission, and he," giving a pointed stare to Caleb, "Will listen to him."

Caleb shrugged. "I'm fine with that."

"Then it's decided."


	9. Chapter 8

The meeting went smoothly without any more trouble. It was mostly on strategies and such on how to take down the organisation, and the two captains agreed with each other more often than not. The tension was still there however, but it didn't bother the rest of them. They were all glad that there weren't any more clashes.

Akashi's team had training afterwards, something no one was looking forward too. However, before they headed off, Midorima pulled his captain aside. "Akashi."

"What is it, Shintarou?" The red head asked, watching as the other team streamed out. Midorima waited patiently until they were out of earshot before continuing.

"This morning I went past the showers. Fukui Akio was there, and I managed to catch a glimpse of something on his chest."

Akashi waited for him to continue, though his eyes sparked with interest.

"I've seen it before. Black veins spreading from the heart. Though the last time I saw it, they died soon after. From what I've heard, it was an experimental drug of sorts forcefully used on a bunch of people. As far as I know, everyone died a few days later. If he has it, then I don't know how he's still alive."

"I'm sure they're aware of it. Though send me the information on that drug. They were stopped, correct? Then maybe we'll get more information on their team if they were the ones that stopped them."

Midorima nodded. "I'll do my best. Oha Asa says that Cancers are lucky today. I'll see you at training." With that, the green head turned and walked away.

* * *

"Hey Caleb."

The twin turned towards Crystal, who looked at him worriedly. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine. Kuroko isn't like the others. While they're all about how good they are, he's trying to keep them together as a team." Caleb remembered his look into the bluenette's mind. It wasn't hard to tell that he was different.

"Still, I mean, I don't think he'd disobey an order from Seijuuro. What if he orders him to kill you or something?" Crystal asked, shivering at the thought of it. The two of them were in the recreation area, Caleb needing some time to relax a little. Crystal had followed him there.

"He won't. Trust me, I know," The male said reassuringly, shooting her a smile. "Also, you might want to be careful. I wouldn't use Akashi's full name around him."

"I guess..." Crystal pouted. "I hope no one else minds if I use their first names. I mean, they're fun to say. More so than their last names. And Seijuuro has a nice ring to it..."

"Just be careful," Caleb said with a chuckle. "Oh. I need to do something."

He had just remembered. The pink haired girl that was in the meeting today. She wasn't in the file, as far as he knew, and he wanted to talk to her.

Standing, he gave the brunette another smile. "Sorry Crystal, I'll talk to you later."

The girl gave him a hug. "Be careful on the mission."

"You know it's not happening until tomorrow, right?" Caleb chuckled as he headed out.

"I know! Be careful anyway!" She called after him.

 _Hey, you looking for the pink one? She's down near the training rooms._

Caleb was an interesting kind of person. He and his twin shared a telepathic bond, which allowed them to talk to each other from where ever and also notifying each other of their locations. But it wasn't just that. Caleb had the ability to read minds. No one knew except his brother, and he was going to keep it that way. Both teams, if they ever found out, would use him in more ways than one and he could tell that he would no longer be an equal.

His power did come in handy though. Whenever arguments broke out in the team, he was the one they came to. He careful not to give too many hints, but he always resolved conflict. Hence the nickname, "Pysch".

 _Thanks Ben. Ask Bailey if we'll have training any time soon, can you?_

 _Will do._

After that, Caleb headed for the training rooms. It was likely that she was helping with training or something, but he was sure he could talk to her for a bit.

If any of the others would let her talk to him, anyway. Now that was the question.

* * *

"Come on Kise, you're never going to beat me at that rate," Aomine said with a smirk, sweat dripping down the side of his face.

Facing him was the blonde, two short swords in hand. Aomine held his usual weapon, spinning it around his right.

Akashi had let them free train near the end, and it always ended up with these two sparring.

Kise's golden eyes glowed, and suddenly he lunged. Aomine was prepared for it, but soon his eyes widened in shock.

 _Though I don't have katanas, I'll just have to compensate by getting a little closer..._ Kise had started the same set of deadly moves he had seen Akio use the previous day. Except this time, it was faster, more powerful and it took Aomine completely by surprise.

 _How the hell?!_ Aomine blocked, dodged, danced; but he had seen it before. Just before Kise could do that final blow, which involved a double thrust with both blades, Aomine spun. With both hands on his swallow, he twisted to the left around the blades and pushed them both to the right. Hooking an arm around the surprised blonde, he locked the other's arms to his body and pressed the tip of his swallow to Kise's neck. A small drop of blood bloomed.

"That's mean, Aomine-cchi! You're not meant to draw blood!" Kise cried, shoving the other male away. "One more!"

"Don't you ever get tired?" Aomine grumbled, irritated, but complied. That is, until he spotted Momoi talking to someone.

"Oi Kise," he called, drawing the blonde's attention. "Who's Satsuki talking to?"

"Eh? Him? I think he's part of the other team. The one- wait where are you going?"

Aomine had started heading towards them.

* * *

Momoi had been watching the others train, lost in thought. Aomine was as good as ever, but he seemed slightly bothered by the fact that he might have a challenger. _Maybe that's a good thing,_ Momoi thought. _Maybe his love for fighting comes back. Oh who knows._ "Hi."

Startled, the pink haired girl looked up in shock. "Oh sorry, didn't see you there. Caleb-san, right?" _Caleb Cole... One of the twins... Uses a compound bow..._

The twin nodded. "I didn't quite catch your name at the meeting," he said with a smile. "And also, just Caleb is fine."

"Momoi Satsuki." Now standing, she offered a handshake. The male shook, and gestured for her to sit back down. She did, warily watching him as he took a seat next to her.

"I'm the information gatherer for my team. I assume you are, for yours?" Caleb asked, watching as Aomine was pushed back by Kise. Momoi only nodded. She didn't want to give out too much information, but she felt like Caleb was someone she could trust. For whatever reason.

"I suppose we'll have to work together then," Caleb said, almost as if it were a passing thought. "Are you up for doing some researching later on?"

Momoi hesitated, but she didn't get time to say anything. Aomine grabbed Caleb by his shirt and pulled him up. "Who the fuck are you and why are you talking with Satsuki?"

"Dai-chan put him down!" Momoi demanded.

"Hey hey, I'm just talking to her," Caleb said, trying to stop himself from choking. "Let me go and I'll explain."

"Dai-chan!" Momoi hit Aomine over the head. "Let him go! Ahomine!"

The bluenette growled but finally released the male, who slumped against the wall trying to catch his breath.

"Dai-chan, Ki-chan is waiting. Leave us alone!" Momoi pushed him away, shoving him back towards Kise. Aomine shot glares at the both of them. "You better not touch her," he warned Caleb, even as the pink haired girl pushed him away.

Caleb put his hands up trying to placate the other male.

Aomine scowled and turned away, going back to spar with Kise. However he kept a close eye on his childhood friend.

"Sorry about him," Momoi apologised, turning back to look at Caleb. He waved her off.

"No problem," he said, though his voice was a little croaky. "Boyfriend?"

"Oh, no," she blushed. "I've known him since we were born. Before the others, anyway."

"Ah," Caleb said, nodding. "Makes sense, I guess. Anyway, do you want to go to the library later?"

Momoi debated on this for a little bit. "An hour should be fine, they'll be done soon."

Caleb glanced towards the two fighting, one of them giving him a glare.

He then gave the girl a wide smile. "I'll see you then."

* * *

 _Food. More snacks._

That was the only thing on Muraskibara's mind as he headed into the kitchen. More specifically, the pantry.

Every month they got a shipment of snacks just to keep the purple giant happy. They were sent to a different place each time and one of them would go pick it up, so not to raise suspicion. They were mostly kept in the pantry, some in the freezer, just all over the place. As he entered the walk in pantry, he stopped at the sight of someone else there.

"Eh, who are you?"

Of course, Muraskibara had seen him before but he couldn't remember his name.

The other male, a tall brunette, looked up. "Oh hi. You must be Muraskibara. I'm Adrian."

"What are you doing here?"

"Bit blunt... I was hungry. A lot of snacks you have here," Adrian said, a little surprised. "I haven't heard of many of these before."

"I don't share," Muraskibara said with a minor pout.

"Oh." Adrian looked a little disappointed. "I brought some from France though, if you want to try."

At that, the purple head looked happier. "Really? What kind of snacks?"

"Uh..." Adrian rummaged around in his pockets for a little bit, before coming up with a mostly intact, chip looking packet. "Here."

Muraskibara took the packet cautiously, inspecting it. But all the information and everything was in French and he couldn't understand it. So he opened it, sniffing it before taking one out and eating it.

His eyes opened a little wider.

"This tastes nice."

"I uh, I'm glad you like it," Adrian said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I could order more if you want."

The other male nodded as he continued munching. "Here you go." He gave Adrian a maiubo.

"Uh, thanks," Adrian said, taking it. He looked at it curiously, then put it into his pocket.

"You can have snacks if you want," Muraskibara said, gesturing to the inside of the pantry before turning and heading out.

"What a weird guy," Adrian muttered to himself, but did take another look around before grabbing a few more snacks. They all seemed pretty interesting to him. Heading out, he went to go find Crystal.

* * *

Momoi headed to the library after the boys had finished training. _Aomine's still as lazy as usual,_ she thought, sighing. Lately he wouldn't train by himself, and mostly would only train with Kise. She was hoping, with the arrival of a new team, that his love of fighting would come back. She hated seeing him so bored all of the time. No one put up a challenge.

Entering the library, she let out a sigh of relief. She always liked the library, even though it was made of the same cold grey metal as the rest of the base. The books however, had that lovely smell to it that all books had. It was nice.

Spotting her target, she made her way over to Caleb, sitting down opposite him. "Hello."

Caleb looked up and smiled, shutting his book. "Hi. Nice of you to join me. Training go well?"

"I guess," Momoi offered in the way of small talk. However, she really did want information on their team. "How's your team?"

"They're okay, I guess. Akio isn't particularly happy, but I suppose that's to be expected." Caleb smiled sadly. "Aomine really riles him up."

"Do you think they could spar together?" Momoi asked wistfully.

"Uh... Not too sure about that. Akio only really spars with Bailey. And to be honest, they're likely to accidentally hurt each other," Caleb shrugged, with a slight grimace.

"Eh... Good point. Speaking of which, what's up with Bailey? I read in his file that he's the youngest of the group, and newest. People like that don't usually get promoted to captain." This was a big question. Even though Akashi was technically the youngest out of all of them, he had known all of them for a long time and the aura he had... Well it was clear who would be the leader from the very start.

"Oh..." Caleb looked like he was thinking back to another time. "He wasn't always like this. Cold, I mean. And distant. When all of us first met him, he was energetic, charismatic, even with the scar. Akio didn't like him at first... So he challenged him. Crystal was our leader at this point, and she would've gladly stepped aside but Akio didn't let her. Not at least, until he challenged Bailey."

Momoi listened with interest. She would have to add all this to her personal files later on.

"Well... Bailey won. In the first three moves. Everyone was shocked. Akio demanded a rematch, and Bailey won again. While I haven't seen Akashi fight, nor Aomine, I haven't seen anyone better than Bailey so far. Only then Akio accepted his fate, and so yeah, that's how Bailey became captain."

"That's interesting... Can I ask about the dashes? Some things have been scratched out on the records." The pink haired girl considered the story. She had no reason to believe that Caleb was lying, but she hadn't seen any of them fight. Only Kuroko and Aomine had so far seen.

"Sorry, I can't tell you about those," Caleb said apologetically. "They aren't my story to tell." _Two years ago..._

"Oh." Momoi pouted. Unfortunate. But she was getting more than she bargained for, and so wouldn't push for it.

"I assume Akashi is the best... Fighter, I guess, in your team?" Caleb asked. Momoi only gave a nod.

With a chuckle, Caleb asked another question. "How do you keep your team together?"

The girl sighed. "It's hard. Tetsu-kun and I try to keep them busy, and so there aren't arguments in the team. In the early days, when we were first starting out, there were many clashes. Dai-chan used to really love one on ones with people, and Akashi wasn't like this either..." She thought back, remembering how much everything had changed. When Muraskibara challenged Akashi because he thought he wasn't that good any more... And Akashi had changed. No longer was he the same captain that actually cared about his team. And slowly, their entire team began to change. With her and Kuroko having to stand by and watch. Maybe this would change.

"Teal and Psych, please head to the mission control room."

"That's me," Caleb sighed, standing up and placing his book back on the shelf. "I liked our chat. Perhaps when I come back, we can talk again." Smiling, he winked and headed out.


	10. Chapter 9

"Gold, some of your friends appear to be on our tail."

"Friends?"

The tall, blonde haired and blue eyed male stretched his legs out lazily while sitting in his chair. "I don't have friends. Unless of course, you mean..."

The person who had just entered, a dark haired male with glasses and smirking as if he knew something, nodded.

"Finally... They're so slow." Gold sighed. "He won't be much of a challenge any more though..."

Standing, he stretched out his limbs. "Time to get started."

Heading out, he and the other walked side by side.

"Do you think we should send them a little surprise?"Gold asked.

The other male chuckled. "Why not."

* * *

"Kuroko-san!" The bluenette turned around when he heard his name called.

Caleb hurried and caught up to him. "How are you?"

"I'm good, Cole-san. Are you any good with computers?" Kuroko stared impassively at the other, though he was slightly surprised that he had been seen.

"I'm pretty good with computers. And please, call me Caleb." The twin kept pace with the shadow as they headed for the control room. The rest of the way was quiet as they kept their thoughts to themselves. Finally, they arrived at the door.

"After you," Caleb gestured, stepping aside. Without missing a beat, Kuroko pushed open the door and headed inside.

Inside the room, there was a large screen which made up most of it. Of course there were tables and such, and one had a button panel for controlling the screen. The room itself was dark.

Both males sat down at different tables and waited.

Finally after a few minutes, an automated voice was heard.

"Welcome. As this is not your first mission, there will be no explanation. The details for this mission will appear shortly. Your extra weapons will be in the section in the armoury."

As the voice ended, the screen lit up. It showed a map of the area. "There is going to be a deal between two men in this area. Your mission will be to intercept the package without letting anyone in the deal noticing. Teal, if possible, please use the camera provided to take a picture of the men. Pink has asked for more information on the two."

Kuroko nodded his understanding. The sensor in the room picked up on it.

"Psych, your job will be to watch over Teal from above. There is a nearby tower. The deal will take place in the marketplace. We do not want any casualties. A replica USB will be given to Teal as replacement. Your getaway vehicle will be a four seater sedan. It will have bulletproof windows, however, the rest of the car will remain the same. This deal will be happening today at 3 pm. It is currently 8 am. You will be leaving in an hour, and arriving at 11 am. This will leave you with enough time to scope out the place and make sure that it will go smoothly. Good luck."

The map faded from the screen, and the room lit up. Both males took that as their cue to leave.

"An hour." Caleb sighed. "And I thought this would be tomorrow."

"Akashi-kun likes to plan like this," Kuroko said with a shrug.

"Really... Guess I'll have to start getting used to it then," Caleb sighed. Kuroko paused a little, glancing at him. "How long do you think we'll be working together for?"

Caleb shrugged. "Bailey seemed pretty certain we'd be working together for a while. I don't think the other organisation will be too easy to take down."

Kuroko nodded, and didn't say anything until they parted. "I'll see you in an hour, Caleb-kun."

"It's just Caleb!" He called after, before heading off as well.

* * *

"Kuroko-cchi!" Kuroko barely had time to react before the overenthusiastic blonde flung himself onto the smaller male. "You're leaving so soon?"

"In an hour. I'll be back by the end of the day, Kise-kun," Kuroko said, trying not to let show how much the blonde clinging onto him bothered him.

"Oi Kise, get off him." Aomine grabbed the back of Kise's shirt and pulled him off. "Tsk. I don't know how you manage to survive out there."

"That's mean, Aomine-cchi! Aren't you worried about Kuroko-cchi too?!" Kise cried, looking like tears were about to fall.

"Che, of course I am. It doesn't mean you have to go all over him," Aomine said, rolling his eyes.

"Here, Kuroko. This is your lucky item for the day." Midorima handed Kuroko a pack of gum. "Keep it on you."

The teal head was used to receiving weird items, so he thanked the shooter and pocketed the gum.

"Ne Kuro-chin, I found this lolly." Muraskibara handed Kuroko something that looked like a vanilla lolly.

"I'm only going on a mission. There's no reason for all of you to act like this." Kuroko was a bit disturbed at all the special treatment.

"We're only worrying about you, Tetsuya." Akashi was staring intently at the other male. "You leave in an hour, correct?" Kuroko only nodded.

"TETSU-KUN!" Momoi came flying down the hallway and hugged Kuroko. "Momoi-san, I can't breathe..."

Momoi squeezed a little tighter before letting go. "So soon," she pouted. "But I have more information on the other team... Since we're all here."

Akashi looked interested at that. "What information? How did you get it?"

Momoi took a bit to explain what Caleb had told her.

"So that's where you went," Aomine grunted. "You know we can't trust them, right?"

"Dai-chan, stop being so rude," Momoi pouted. "I was fine."

"So Zenith hasn't been part of their team for that long," Akashi ignored the two bickering, thinking to himself. "Unlike us."

"So he beat Fukui in a fight?" Kise mumbled. "Huh."

"Ne, Kuro-chin disappeared."

"Hah?!"

All of them cursed the shadow's ability to disappear once they realised.

* * *

~An Hour Later~

"Caleb-kun," Kuroko said, having made his way to the armoury. He had spotted the other browsing through the weapons, and come up behind him.

"Hi, Kuroko-san. Have you seen your weapons?" Caleb gestured to the table lit up near the front of the room.

"Yes I have. I see you've taken yours already. Are we ready to go?" Kuroko was a little surprised that Caleb hadn't reacted, but thought that maybe he was good at hiding emotions.

"I am. The plane leaves soon. We should get going." Finally, Caleb turned to him. They both had a different aura. Missions were always to be taken seriously.

"Let's go then."

* * *

For the two, it was a fast flight. They had their own private plane, and so when they arrived there was a car waiting for them already. Caleb took the wheel and they were off to the marketplace.

It was much busier than they expected. Both of them took a pause, before splitting and heading to their positions. Caleb headed for the tower, which was more or less a clock tower. He set up under the bell, a laptop, his compound bow and a pair of binoculars.

Kuroko delved into the marketplace. With so many people around, he would be easy to miss. Then he hesitated.

Caleb... Even with binoculars, as high-tech as they were, Kuroko had such a low presence that it was likely Caleb wouldn't be able to spot him.

"Caleb-kun, can you see me?" Kuroko pressed a hand to his ear, talking to his partner.

"Yes. You're next to the meat stall. While you may have a low presence, it doesn't mean I can't see you." There was a light tone in his voice, and it reassured Kuroko.

"Good. We have an hour and a half. I'll scope out the area in the remaining time. Please notify me when they arrive, Caleb-kun."

"Will do."

That ended their conversation.

* * *

"Kuroko-san, they're here."

"Thank you, Caleb-kun."

Kuroko began making his way towards the meeting point, the replica USB in hand. He knew what to do; it was simple. A small bump, switch the USBs, and he would be gone.

"Be careful, Kuroko. There's a third person." _Third person?_

"I'll be careful." Kuroko would adapt. He always did. Missions didn't always go to plan.

They went no contact as Kuroko approached his target. Gripping the USB a little tighter, he got closer and closer. Finally, he was only a few metres away.

"Kuroko-san, behind you!"

Instinctively, the teal headed male turned around just in time to see a man coming towards him. He held a dagger in one hand, out of view.

"Get out of there. Abort the mission!" Kuroko heard in his earpiece. Ducking under the first strike, he kicked the man in the chest and knocked him back before rushing his original target. Knocking into him, and not lightly, he switched the USBs and muttered a quick sorry before darting back into the crowd.

"They're still after you. They know. I'm coming down."

"No, Caleb-kun." Kuroko was still darting through the crowd. Slowing down, he turned away and attempted to be inconspicuous. "It's not part of the mission. I'll bring the car to you."

"Not a chance. Three people wasn't part of the mission either. Be careful, they're looking for someone with teal blue hair."

"H-how do you know that?" Kuroko asked, hiding behind a stack of books for now. _Did he betray me...?_

"They're pulling aside anyone who has that colour hair. Go left. I'll be waiting. I found a different car."

Reasonable. Kuroko glanced around, and headed in the direction without asking questions. Going left meant heading out of the marketplace. There were still plenty of people heading in an out of the marketplace, but he spotted the men following him and knew that they wouldn't stop searching until they found him. Hurrying as fast as he could without drawing attention, Kuroko spotted the car and headed for it. He saw the window scroll down. "Kuroko, duck!"

There was a gunshot. The man behind Kuroko dropped dead.

The passenger seat of the car got pushed open. "Get in!"

Kuroko dashed inside, slamming the car door shut and Caleb took off. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kuroko said, staring anxiously out of the window. It was the truth, at least. "I made the switch," he added.

"Good," Caleb replied. Suddenly the back window exploded. Caleb let out a cry of pain and the car swerved suddenly before he righted it. "Fuck," Caleb groaned. Keeping one hand on the wheel, he tried to check his wound.

"Don't do it now, be careful. I'll look at it." Kuroko leaned over, tearing that part of the shirt off. Caleb hissed but didn't say anything else, keeping an eye on the road.

"The bullet is still there, but at least it's stopping the blood flow. I'll be able to treat it once we get on the plane, but not before. You should let me drive." Kuroko examined the wound carefully before searching through his pockets. He found bandages and began applying pressure to the wound. Caleb hissed again in pain, but nodded.

He pulled over, checking out the back window to see if they followed. There were no cars in pursuit, so he considered that a good thing. Getting out of the car, he pressed down on his wound as he headed over to the passenger seat. Kuroko did the same, except getting into the driver's seat.

As soon as the doors closed, the car took off.

They reached the airport quickly, and both rushed for the plane. They didn't want to be stuck on the ground any longer.

Once on the plane, Kuroko told their pilot to make it back to base as fast as possible before tending to Caleb.

"This will hurt," he warned, before getting to work.

* * *

Caleb was lying on his stomach on one of the couches, reading a book. His shoulder was still hurting, but the anaesthesia was kicking in and it wasn't as painful as before. Kuroko was sitting on the couch opposite, also reading a book. Looking up, he noticed the other male rubbing his shoulder and wincing slightly.

"How's your wound?" Caleb looked up at the smaller male. "It's fine. Besides, when we get back I'll be healed then. You did a good job."

Kuroko just nodded as the plane began to land. Caleb groaned a little as he sat up, wincing a bit at his shoulder but it was something he had dealt with before.

As they exited the plane, Kuroko headed for the driver's seat of the car. They never took the plane back to base, as it was too easy to be tracked. The car was easier as there was only one, well defended and hidden path. As soon as Caleb was in, Kuroko started the car and headed for base. Caleb leaned back, sighing softly. "Well, it went okay. You got the information after a surprise and I got shot in the shoulder. Not too bad."

"Akashi-kun won't be happy." Kuroko kept his eyes on the road, but a shudder went down his spine. No, he wouldn't. Someone got injured, and it didn't go to plan.

"He won't try to kill anybody, will he?" Caleb asked, glancing to him.

"No, but you don't want to upset him." Kuroko replied. "I'll take you to the infirmary and will talk to him myself."

"Tell Bailey as well. He's not as... Intense as your captain." Caleb sighed softly and carefully laid his head onto the headrest as so to not accidentally hit his shoulder. This would be fun.


	11. Chapter 10

During the time the two had been away, not a great deal had happened. Not for most of them, at least.

Aomine had been lounging around for most of the day, horribly bored. He couldn't be bothered training, even though Kise was bothering him about it. And so he was bored.

That was, until Akio popped up. Of course he had to pop up. Aomine had just been wanting to relax (not true) by himself and or sleep on the couch.

"You up for a rematch?"

The voice startled him out of his thoughts, and he rolled over on the couch to face away from him. "No."

Akio chuckled, leaning against the door. "You scared?"

"Yeah, right!" Aomine snapped. Sitting up, he shot a glare at Akio who just smirked right back.

"Yeah yeah, you're all talk. You know I've heard the stories about you."

"I'll beat your ass next time," Aomine drawled, lying back down. No point in getting worked up about it, as arrogant as Akio was. "Stories?"

"Mhm." Akio was a little irritated that his attempt to antagonise the bluenette hadn't worked, however he didn't let it show. "Lots of stories. The main one I hear is that your fighting skill is slowly getting worse."

"As if," Aomine scoffed.

"You sure? I mean, when we fought, I was kinda hoping for more of a challenge."

"Tch. You're not getting a rematch," Aomine said. Having cooled down his head, he wasn't going to fall for it.

Akio pouted, annoyed it hadn't worked. "Come on, I'll go easy on you."

"Piss off."

Akio let out a dramatic sigh. "Fine. I'll go ask the blonde one. He'll probably put up a better fight. Plus, he's pretty." At the end of that, Akio's voice went all dream like.

"What the fuck?" Aomine sat up again, giving him a weird look. "Are you-"

"Yes yes, but don't worry, you're not handsome enough to catch my eye," Akio smirked, before winking and turning to leave. Aomine blinked, slightly offended yet weirded out.

* * *

"Kise!" Akio sung, strolling through the hallway. He paused a little. The name didn't roll of his tongue very well. "Ryoutaaa~!"

Kise, who had been wandering the halls, heard his name and went searching for the source. When he spotted Akio, his eyes widened slightly. "Fukui?"

"Oh don't call me that," Akio said, making a face. "I much prefer my first name."

Kise blinked slightly. "Akio... Why were you calling my name? Does Crystal-cchi want me?"

"Oh, no... Actually I was hoping to spar." Akio sent him a grin. "Aomine won't spar with me, so I'm going for someone better."

"Me? Better than Aomine-cchi?" Kise asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I was tired yesterday, but I'm sure I could beat him some other time," Akio said with a sigh.

"Aomine-cchi..." Kise wasn't sure what to say. The blonde looked up to the other male, yet didn't want to lose to him. "I'll spar with you."

"Really? Maybe you'll beat me," Akio said, sending a flirtatious grin towards him before turning and heading for the training room. "I'll meet you there!"

Kise stared after him, wondering if he had actually just heard that.

* * *

The sound of light chatter became louder as Aomine made his way towards the training room. He couldn't really help it. He was curious at how Kise would fair against Akio, even though he knew he could beat Kise easily. Akio... While Aomine didn't want to admit it, he was good. Better than he had expected.

Having been deep in thought, the bluenette hadn't realised the voices had stopped. As he walked in, he froze in surprise.

"What the fuck?"

Both of them were on the ground, Akio having pinned the blonde. What Aomine had _not_ been expecting to see, however, was the two of them lip locking.

Akio's eyes fluttered open and he pulled away from a breathless Kise to look at Aomine in surprise, only to smirk.

"Like what you see, Aomine?"

Kise's eyes flew open and he squeaked, immediately turning to look at the other. "A-Aomine-cchi?"

Aomine took a hesitant step back, wondering if this was a dream. Sure, Akio had just told him he was gay, yet he hadn't quite believed it. Akio just didn't look like it, not to him anyway. And what was this, with _Kise_ out of all people? Wasn't he straight?

Akio grinned, before leaning down and kissing the other once again. However this time, Kise tried to squirm out of it. That did it for Aomine.

Storming over, he grabbed Akio by the collar and pulled him off. "Don't fucking touch him!"

"Seems like someone's jealous," Akio said, winking at Kise before pulling himself away from Aomine. "Can we spar now?"

"What the actual fuck is wrong with you?" Aomine asked, staring at Akio. He was so confusing. Kise was standing now, trying to make sense of everything.

"Me?" Akio chuckled. "Eh, nothing. If we're not going to spar, then I'm going to shower." He began to stroll away, sheathing his katanas as he did so.

Both Kise and Aomine stared after him, until he was out of sight. Then Kise started babbling.

"I don't even know what happened- one moment we were sparring and the next he had me pinned and I didn't know what to do he just-"

"Shut up, Kise." Kise promptly shut his mouth, but he looked to be almost in tears.

"I'm gonna go beat the shit out of that kid."

* * *

Akio had just been about to step into the changing room when a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. He barely had time to do anything before he was slammed against the wall, his wrists pinned above his head. "Ahomine?"

"Don't call me that," Aomine snarled, while Akio lazily smiled.

"If you're going to beat me up, why not do it in a spar?" Akio sighed, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "This seems kinda, rude."

"You'd deserve it," Aomine said, but there was less malice in it. Akio noticed. He grinned.

"Spar it is, then?"

* * *

Akashi had been going to talk to Kise, after being told he was in the training room by Momoi. After entering, he stood quietly in the corner and watched.

The two were at it again.

Clangs of metal rang out through the room. Akio and Aomine were sparring with their usual weapons, despite how dangerous it was. Obviously they didn't care. While Aomine looked furious, Akio couldn't seem to care less. However even though they weren't on the same team, Akashi could tell he was just as serious as the other.

Neither seemed to have the upper hand, once again. Kise watched in the other corner, unaware that Akashi was even in the room. With how focused all of them were, Akashi was sure he could do something ridiculous and they wouldn't see. Of course he didn't, but he made his way over to Kise.

The blonde noticed him, and Akashi noted that for some reason he had a tearful look. Had something happened?

"Ryouta, what happened?" Akashi said, standing next to the taller male. He kept his eyes on the spar however.

"He... Aomine-cchi... Akio kissed me... Aomine-cchi went.." Kise trailed off, unsure how to continue.

"He what?" Akashi asked, his head snapping towards Kise. Just as a victory whoop went up.

Akio stared in shock as his katanas went flying. He'd lost. To Aomine. _Aomine._

"Two outta three?" Akio shrugged, as if it hadn't really affected him. Aomine grinned, twirling his swallow idly. He had won. Although not as easily as he had hoped, at least he had won. "I'm done."

Akio rolled his eyes. "Fiiiine." Shrugging his shoulders again, he tried not to show how much it bothered him. Sighing softly to himself, he picked up his weapons and was about to head out before a flash of red stopped him.

"Fukui Akio." That gold eye kept Akio pinned, and he felt a strange shudder go through his body. Akashi had the same aura... No, constant aura of someone he knew when he had been going through a very dark time.

Taking a deep breath, he tried not to let his voice stutter. "Akashi-san."

"Ryouta's told me you did something to him."

Akio gulped. "It was harmless."

"Really now?" Akashi's voice washed over him with a feeling of dread. Akio wanted to step back, but knew that if he did that something bad would happen.

Akashi stared at the other, noticing how uncomfortable he felt. He was feeling... Merciful, today.

"This better not happen again."

"It won't," Akio gulped, hoping that was it. First he lost to Aomine, and now he was being practically told off by Akashi?

"Very well. One other thing." Akashi thought back to what Midorima had said. "Take off your shirt."

"What?!" Akio exclaimed. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable with it, his hesitation had more to do with the absurdity of the request. "Why?"

Akashi's eyes flashed dangerously and he took a step forward. "Take off. Your. Shirt."

Slightly shaking, Akio pulled off his singlet.

The black veins had crawled a little further than what Midorima had seen, but they were mostly the same. It was almost as if they were pulsing, spreading a tiny bit further each time. At that point, they hadn't spread enough to show outside of what he was wearing.

Akashi noted the way Akio seemed ashamed, how he kept his eyes to the ground. "When did this happen?"

"Few years back," Akio just shrugged, not wanting to answer any more questions.

"And how are you not dead?" Akashi asked, remembering what the greenhead had told him.

"How do you know I should be?" Akio asked, quite surprised. But he answered anyway. "We found a temporary cure. A pill every three days basically. It keeps me alive, though honestly I'd prefer to have this whole thing out of me."

With a nod, Akashi turned away from the other team member. "That is all." He walked out, and Akio almost collapsed against the wall in relief. That aura... He didn't want to think about it. It reminded him of something he'd much rather forget.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the short chapter! Next one will probably be better c:**


	12. Chapter 11

Kuroko had just dropped off Caleb at the infirmary. He was sure it would be fixed in no time, as the doctors and nurses did a very good job. Especially with how technology had evolved as well.

As he stepped out, the first thing he saw was a shock of red hair. "Akashi-kun."

"Tetsuya. Do you have something for me?" The redhead held out his hand expectantly, and Kuroko placed the USB into it.

"Any difficulties?" The captain asked, noticing he had just come out of the infirmary. However there wasn't a scratch on him, so he could only assume it was Caleb who had been hurt.

"One. We handled it. Caleb-kun was shot in the shoulder, however he will be fine. Also, Akashi-kun," Kuroko said, looking at the USB. "Please share that information with the other team. I might not have made it out had it not been for Caleb-kun."

Akashi pursed his lips before nodding and heading down the corridor. Kuroko stared after him, before heading to his room.

* * *

"Adrian!" A cheerful voice echoed down the hall as Crystal went skipping down it. Spotting her beloved, she skipped up and hugged him tight from behind. A low rumble indicated to her that he had laughed.

Letting go, she let him turn to face her. "I love you," Adrian murmured softly, and Crystal giggled before poking his nose and saying, "I know."

Adrian laughed and pulled her close before kissing her. They only pulled apart when someone coughed.

Crystal turned her head to spot a very red, yet green headed male named Midorima.

"Oh hi Midorima!" She greeted cheerfully, pecking a smiling Adrian on the cheek before practically skipping over to the shooter.

"Hello." Midorima wasn't sure what to say. He didn't know Crystal, and he had basically caught them kissing. Not that kissing was a bad thing of course, but he was confused. Akashi had banned relationships in his team, meaning no one could go for anything more than a casual hookup. Even then, it tended to only be Aomine. Akashi had a good reason for it though. In the unlikely event that one of their partners were revealed, they could be used against them. Even Akashi wasn't willing to take that risk for his team's happiness. There was also the possibility of any of their partners turning against them with private information. Too many risks.

Yet here was a couple. Even though they were on the same team, betrayals weren't unheard of. And people did crazy things for love. If one of them got hurt, there might be hidden consequences.

But he said nothing to Crystal. This wasn't his team, and he couldn't give advice to them. However if it got in the way of a mission, it'd be very very different.

"What are you thinking about?"Crystal asked curiously, and Midorima was surprised she noticed.

"Nothing," he said with a huff, and pushed up his glasses. In his other hand, he held a lion plushie. Crystal shot a pointed glance at it. "What's that?"

"My lucky item for the day," Midorima said stiffly, gripping it tighter. Crystal was obviously very confused.

"Lucky item...? How do you decide what item it is for the day?" She asked. This new team was full of different characters.

"Oha Asa," the greenhead replied, and Crystal's eyes lit up in recognition.

"Oh, that? What's your star sign?" She asked with a genuine interest.

"Cancer. I assume you are a Gemini," Midorima said, thinking about her personality and how similar she was to Kise.

"I am! How did you know?!" She exclaimed, surprised.

"A guess. Now if you would not mind, I have somewhere to be." With that, the shooter turned and headed in the other direction. Crystal pouted after him, wanting to follow but didn't want to disturb him at the same time. Oh well. She turned around and gave Adrian another hug, who had simply been watching the entire time.

"He seems a bit cold, don't you think?" He asked, looking down at his wife. "Then again, I don't really know what to expect with this team. I'm sure Akio's getting up to lot's of trouble."

"Of course he is, you know him," she sighed in reply. "Midorima probably doesn't warm up to people very easily, but I don't know. We should go check on Bailey. He might need us."

"Good idea," Adrian said, before they both headed in the direction of their captain's room.

* * *

"Hey Bailey," Crystal called as she saw her captain leaving the room. "Wait up!"

The scarred male turned around and smiled a little, and Crystal felt her heart ache. She, like the rest of the team, missed the old Bailey.

"Where are you going?" She asked, now walking next to him.

"Oh, just the gym. Though I'm glad you found me, I do have something for you." Bailey handed her a folder, that was quite thick. "Can you give this to Akashi-kun? It's what we have on Gold. I figure he'd want it, plus it might help our teams." He didn't need to elaborate on helping teams part. They could all feel the tension in the air, and Crystal was sure some of them were still upset over their first failure. Nobody liked failures, as something bad always happened.

Taking the folder, Crystal nodded. Bailey looked at her, concern clear in his eyes. "You know we'll have to kill him, right?"

The brunette sighed. "I know. Even though he's family... Well, he's not any more. Not after..." She reached up and traced his scar. "You know."

Bailey sighed softly, watching as she dropped her hand. "Yeah. Can't be helped, I suppose. Anyway, thanks in advance." With that, he turned away and headed for his original destination. Crystal hugged Adrian tight, burying her face in his chest. "I wish..."

"I know," Adrian murmured, trying to comfort her. "One day. Maybe this new team will help."

"I hope they help," Crystal sighed, leaning against him. "I just want him to get over her. I know he's been hurting but... It's been two years."

Adrian stroked her hair lightly, nodding. "We'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

"Shintarou, what do you think of their team?"

The two members of Kiseski no Sedai were playing shougi, in one of the many rooms of the base. The click of the pieces echoed almost around the room. Midorima glanced up from the board to look at Akashi.

"I think they could be a good asset. We might not work well together, however they are good in their own right."

Akashi thought over this as he made his move. "I suppose. Have you talked to any yet?"

Midorima frowned just a bit at Akashi's move. "I saw the married ones kissing earlier. Not much else."

"I see." Akashi leaned back in his chair slightly, his mind wandering. "And what do you think of them?"

"I don't like their relationship. It might interfere with one of our missions." Midorima made his move, looking up at Akashi. "Also the siblings. I don't understand why Bailey would have so many close relationships on his team."

Having already predicted that Midorima would do that, Akashi's move was instant. After all, he could see the future.

"Unfortunately, we have no say in their team. However they are definitely holding things from us. Is there anything you notice that is off about Zenith?" The way the other team's captain walked seemed a little unusual, and just something about him seemed off.

"Yes. His gait is unusual, and his back seems further out. If it were anyone else, I'd say an old injury, however he does not seem like someone who would have that kind of injury." The greenhead noted. Akashi nodded, having already come to the same conclusion.

A knock on the door startled them out of their conversation. "Come in," Akashi called, his red and gold eyes glancing to the door. Crystal pushed the door fully open with a file under her arm. "Some information for you, Akashi-kun."

Surprised at this, both the members of Kiseki no Sedai glanced towards the rather thick folder. "On who?" Midorima asked.

"Nash Gold Jr. He was once a part of our team, but stabbed us in the back." The usually bubbly and open girl seemed a little sad as she handed the file over. "He's the one that gave Bailey that scar. I'm sure you'll find this useful."

The red head glanced at her, his gaze pinning her to her spot. "Thank you. You may leave." Opening the file, he all but ignored the other as he began to read.

Crystal took a deep breath and quickly made her leave.

"What do you think?" Midorima asked when she was gone. Akashi's eyes had lit up with interest.

"This will more than help our mission to take them down." Closing it, he set it aside. It could wait, and he would have Momoi look over it as well. "Your move."


	13. Chapter 12

"Did they get the USB?"

"Yes they did, now can you stop buggering me about it?" Gold snapped, irritated at a certain someone. He was once again in the same room, with a shadow standing at the door. "They'll get the information we want to share. I think we should send them another surprise, however. One a bit more... Personal."

"Sounds like a great idea. What exactly did you have in mind?" The man who was leaning against the corner pushed off from it and headed for the door. "Actually, don't tell me. I like surprises."

The blonde sighed. "Are you done here, Hanamiya? Don't you have work to do?"

"Maybe. Ah, I do need to talk to the little witch about something." Hanamiya sighed, rolling his eyes and turning to leave.

"What did you just call me?"

A girl stepped out from the shadows of the room and put her hands on her waist. "Hanamiya?"

The male blanched, turning around and slowly beginning to back out of the room. "Nothing..."

"I'm pretty sure _someone_ just called me a little witch." An evil smirk formed on her face. "Now was that you?"

Gold rolled his eyes. "Can you take this outside? Raine, remember, can't beat him too bad."

A long, reflective dagger slid out of her sleeve. "Hm..."

"Raine. Can you go terrorise the nearby town or something instead? We have work to do."

Imayoshi appeared behind Hanamiya, putting a hand on his shoulder. He smiled, his eyes appearing to never open. "Maybe later, hm?"

Raine rolled her eyes, sighing. "Fiiiiiine..." And Hanamiya sighed in relief. Well, until a long dagger flashed past him. He immediately froze. "If I ever hear you calling me a witch again..." With that warning, she left.

"Now can you all get out of my office? There's things I need to do." Irritated, Gold kicked them out and finally relaxed. He knew exactly what to do.

* * *

"We might need the team for this one."

Bailey had just finished reading the information that had been stored on the USB. According the information, there was something big happening sooner or later that would have a large impact on the other organisation. It was a meeting between two powerful CEOs, and they planned to sabotage it. That would have to be prevented.

Crystal glanced at him when he spoke. "Must be big. What about their team?"

"I suppose they could join, however it seems most suited to us. I've already got something in mind though. I'll have to adjust if they do join." Bailey frowned in thought.

"Should we hold a meeting then?" Crystal asked, standing opposite him. She sighed softly. "I'll organise one. Maybe just with Akashi. I don't suppose the others need to know, do they?"

Bailey thought over it for a second, before nodding. "That sounds like a good idea. Just us, Akashi and maybe Midorima. Ask him first though."

"Will do boss." With that, she headed out of the room. Bailey sighed and sat back before wincing. His eyes widened slightly in surprise. He usually didn't forget, but that he did, was a good thing. In his eyes, anyway. Standing up, he headed out of the room.

* * *

"Akashi-kun."

The red headed captain stopped, but didn't turn around at the feminine voice. "Yes?"

"We want to organise a meeting, between Bailey you, possibly Midorima and I." Crystal felt slightly nervous in the emperor's presence, which wasn't too surprising. Akashi had this aura. It reminded her a lot of something else, but she wouldn't say.

Akashi thought for a moment. What could they want to talk about? "I will contact Shintarou. 7:30 am tomorrow."

With that, he continued on his way.

Crystal watched him go, noting down the time. Next time, maybe she would ask Midorima instead. He seemed to be easier to talk to, anyway.

* * *

There wasn't much going on for the rest of the day. It was already late, but time appeared to mean very little when constantly under the glare of man made lights.

Akio stared up at the ceiling, lying on his bed. He had lost to Aomine. Stupid _Aomine._ The first time it had been a draw, and Akio had already been tired after his duel with Bailey, so why did he lose now? Thinking back to the fight, he growled as he remembered it had been his own mistake which gave the other the opening. What an idiot. Now Aomine would think that he could always beat him. Ugh.

Sitting up, he glanced around the room. It was pretty bare, as they had been ordered not to take too much when leaving their main base. He had a few picture frames though, most depicting their team. Those usually were taken by Crystal, but their team didn't mind too much. They sat on the bookshelf, which looked sad as it didn't have much on it. Akio wasn't really one for reading, and he wouldn't have been able to bring books either way.

On his bedside table sat another photo. This one was obviously more special, as the frame had a unique design. In the photo, there were two boys. One was Akio, with his arm flung over the other and they were laughing. The other, a male with dark blonde hair and dark blue eyes, was smiling as he held Akio up. It was obviously extremely important to Akio. Not that anyone knew, but he looked at it every night and it would always bring a smile to his face. No one really went into his room either, except for Crystal. And even then they didn't do much.

Getting out of bed, Akio headed for the door. Since he couldn't sleep, he may as well do something productive.

Heading out of his room, the male made for the gym. At this time of night, even though time didn't matter much, it was unlikely he'd encounter anyone on his way. They were all likely asleep. He was simply too worked up after the day's events.

Of course, after thinking that, he just had to run into the last person he wanted to see.

* * *

Aomine had been having the same problem Akio had, just with different thoughts. A little training would no doubt erase that from his mind, although he seldom did. What was the point, when no one could beat him anyway?

That was, until he met Akio. At first Aomine had thought he would've been another easy fight, someone who he could beat down with relative ease. How wrong he was. Even though the other had been tired, he had been an even match. Aomine had sorely underestimated the other and it had almost costed his pride.

Since most of the other members of his team used different weapons, he didn't get much competition amongst them. Kise, maybe, but Aomine still beat him every time.

Entering the gym, he paused as he heard noises. Who else was in here at this time?

Aomine froze. _Why?_

Akio hadn't noticed him yet. This was his chance to leave. Yet his feet didn't want to move. What would happen if the other male saw?

"Oh hey Aomine."

Well shit.

"Fukui."

He didn't exactly know what to say. Akio had stopped what he was doing and was now looking at him, but it didn't seem like he was being hostile.

With a shrug, Akio turned back to his workout. "Bit early isn't it?"

Aomine only grunted in response as he walked over to the treadmill. He didn't want to respond, as it was likely either one of them would say something wrong. As much as he wanted to brag about how he had beaten him earlier, it would probably end badly and Akashi would have his head.

Since when had he thought this hard on anything? Momoi would probably laugh at him. Shaking his head, he concentrated on what he was doing.

* * *

Akio wasn't as at ease as he seemed to be. In fact, the entire time since he had noticed Aomine he had been waiting for the other to make some sort of comment on his loss. The gold eyed male was surprised when nothing of the sort happened, however he was still very on edge.

They worked in silence for a while, the only sounds being their own breath. Soon Akio sighed and put down the weights he had been using. Without a word, he headed out of the gym. Aomine glanced up just once, before ignoring it. He didn't care. He wouldn't bother saying anything, as it was probably early in the morning and both couldn't sleep. No point in picking a fight.

Akio wandered back to his own room, keeping quiet and thinking. It wasn't about anything important though, as he had worked off most of the stress from earlier that day despite Aomine being in the gym with him. Finally tired, he took a small shower before going to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: I am so sorry guys ;-; please forgive me! I know it's been ages, and I know this definitely doesn't make up for it, but I promise I'll update more chapters. Thanks to those who have stuck with me!**


	14. Chapter 13

"Bailey, Akashi has been informed. He said 7:30 am tomorrow. Shintarou will be there. Is that alright?" Crystal asked, looking over the younger male. There was a slight frown as he replied.

"It should be fine. I'll set up training in the meantime for our team, and perhaps send Akio off on a solo mission. Should be easy, maybe a few days, maybe less. Depends on how much research we already have. I suppose now that we're currently sharing their base and everything we'll have to tell Akashi in order to keep the teams from not being too suspicious. I think some time away from Aomine would probably be good for Akio, don't you think?" Bailey sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Crystal laughed lightly.

"Akio could do with a little time alone. Also, his shipment should be arriving now. He should have a few spare though, just in case right?" She asked, the slightest hint of worry on her face.

Bailey mirrored her expression. "I'm not sure. He should have a few more, although I don't know whether he's been using them on missions. You know what he's like."

Crystal sighed. "Yeah I know. Even after you explicitly told him not to. If he keeps going like this... We haven't even seen the second stage yet."

Bailey frowned. "If it's anything like the first, we don't want to test it."

With a nod, Crystal sighed lightly before patting him on the shoulder. "You know we'll be fine. We haven't had an incident for a long time now, and we've got warning signs in place. There's no need to worry."

"I know I know, but I have to worry sometimes." The male rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "No point in worrying about it now I guess. Crystal, schedule a training lesson for later this evening. We have to make sure they're not slacking off."

Crystal smiled to herself at the last line. She could tell he was joking, as they all practised as hard as they could. Bailey twice as much, but she didn't mention it. Although she didn't think Bailey realised how hard he pushed himself sometimes.

With a smile, Bailey began heading off. "I'm sure Akio will want to train with me exclusively again. I'll trust you to keep him busy."

Crystal laughed, before shaking her head. "I'll try my best."

* * *

 _Hmm? More snacks?_ Muraskibara was in the pantry again, as he had run out of snacks. However there looked to be something new in it. Walking over, he inspected the new entries.

"Ah Muraskibara!" Before he had the chance to actually have a look, the purple head's attention was diverted to the male that had suddenly appeared at the door. "Do you like the delivery?"

"Eh?" This was from him? Muraskibara was surprised. He hadn't truly expected it, but it was a nice surprise.

Picking up one of the snacks, he opened it and took a chip.

"Its tastes good. Adrian-chin is nice. Maybe I won't crush you." He lazily nodded to the other before grabbing the entire shelf of snacks and leaving.

Adrian stared after him, half shocked that he had taken the whole lot. _That purple guy sure is interesting,_ he thought, watching him go. _I guess I'll have to order more if he likes them._

Suddenly something struck him. _Oh I forgot. I have to check._ He dashed out of the kitchen.

* * *

Kuroko had been heading to give Momoi more information when the older male ran past him. Hesitating, he looked at the USB in his hand before deciding to follow him. He was certain that he would get more information than what was in the USB.

Turning around, he chased after Adrian. He had almost lost him, as the other hadn't stopped when he passed him. Probably because he didn't notice Kuroko at all, but either way he had to catch up. It wasn't easy, as the other had longer legs and therefore a longer stride, as well as the fact that Kuroko didn't know where he was going.

Kuroko almost lost him around a corner, but realised that there were only two places he could've gone from here and it was unlikely that the storage closet would be it. The only other place would be... The delivery bay!

Arriving at the door, he paused and slowly walked in. Even if he made noise however, it was unlikely that the other would notice him with his low presence.

Hanging around the door, the shadow watched Adrian fumbling around the new stack of deliveries while swearing to himself. It seemed like something hadn't arrived yet.

A frown crossed Kuroko's face. He didn't like that Akashi had let them do this, as their base was meant to be secret to everyone but them. Even if they were meant to live here for a bit, as most other places were unsafe, it didn't mean their stuff could come here. It meant that it was unsafe for his team, as it raised the chance of someone finding their base.

"It didn't arrive." Kuroko's attention was diverted back to Adrian. He had stood up, a serious look on his face and was still swearing at himself. "I need to tell them..." Turning on his heel, he dashed out of the bay and straight past Kuroko who stepped out of his way. Apparently he still didn't notice the smaller male.

As Adrian ran out, Kuroko continued to follow him. He hadn't gotten enough from the delivery bay, and it seemed as if the older male was going to tell someone. He would just have to keep to the shadows once again.

* * *

"Bailey!" Adrian ran into his room, panting. His captain turned around, having been sitting at his desk. "Adrian? What is it?"

"The shipment... It hasn't arrived. Crystal said it was arriving now, but I just checked. There's nothing there. We're in trouble."

Bailey's eyes widened in shock, and he checked something on his wrist. "He told me he had a few left..."

He grabbed the phone on his desk, hitting speed dial. He looked to Adrian. "Go find him."

Without a second pause, the other dashed out of the room and sped down the hall. Even then, he missed the smaller male standing just beside the door.

* * *

Kuroko considered following after him, but there seemed to be a bigger problem with the other team's captain. So instead, he looked back into the room.

"Crystal, they didn't arrive."

"Hm, what didn't?" Kuroko could barely hear the voice on the other end of the phone, but there were no sounds nearby and if he strained he could hear it.

"His pills. It's his last day on his current one, his status hasn't updated." Kuroko heard a gasp.

"Do you know where he is? Please tell me you know where he is..."

"I sent Adrian after him... I just need you to check where the shipment is. I'll handle Akio, please find it..."

"Yes Captain."

With that, he ended the call.

Kuroko tapped at something on his wrist, moving out of sight of the doorway. "Akashi-kun, something is happening with the other team."

"Tetsuya? Tell me what happened." Akashi's voice sounded in his ear.

Before Kuroko could say anything however, another voice spoke up.

"Akashi, the rest of you, please come to hallway B3 immediately." Midorima sounded unusually panicked, as if he had just seen something bad. Kuroko immediately began heading there. "I'm on my way, Midorima-kun."

* * *

Bailey's phone rang again, as he was heading out of the room. In one hand, he held a needle filled with a strange looking liquid.

"Bailey, I found him," Adrian said rushed. "Hallway B3 please hurry. It's starting."

"I'm on my way." With that, he ended the call and began to run.


	15. Chapter 14

Midorima had been heading to see Akashi, after being summoned. He hadn't had a clue what for, but no one, no one dared refuse a summon from Akashi. Besides, he hadn't really been busy either.

In his left hand, he held a bottle of some kind of soft drink. According to Oha Asa, something big was going to be revealed today, a secret that would change his view, yet it hadn't said whether it was good or bad. Either way, he was going to maximise his chances of it being something good.

However, today wasn't going to be his day.

As he turned the corner, Midorima almost tripped over himself in shock. Because lying in the middle of the hall was someone _not_ of his team.

Akio was moving a bit, as he was lying curled up into a ball. There was something wrong, very wrong, judging from the small mewling sounds of pain he was making. Midorima pushed up his glasses and strode forwards before kneeling beside the other male. This was clearly out of his expertise.

"Fukui? Can you hear me?" The shooter hesitated before attempting to roll the other male onto his back. A groan was his only response, and Akio simply rolled back over.

Narrowing his eyes, he tried again, this time with more force. "Fukui."

Akio was successfully pushed onto his back, and his arms fell away from his chest which appeared to be the main source of his pain. Midorima almost jumped back in shock when he saw the other male's chest.

Despite the fact that the other team member had a singlet on, the dark veins that spread from his heart were clearly visible. The last time Midorima had seen him, the veins hadn't spread very far. Perhaps as far as his collarbone. However... Now... The greenhead's eyes narrowed as they trailed up further. They almost seemed darker as they disappeared into his hair, thick black lines running up his neck. Midorima had no idea what to do. This wasn't his area of expertise.

"Akashi, the rest of you, please come to hallway B3 immediately." He accidentally let slip some panic into his words, but he hoped they wouldn't notice. However he felt more reassured when Kuroko's voice came through. "I'm on my way, Midorima-kun."

"Akio!" Midorima looked up as Adrian skidded around the corner. He was panting, having run practically room to room searching for Akio. Pulling out his phone, he headed towards them as he called Bailey. "Bailey, I found him. Hallway B3 please hurry. It's starting." With that ended the call and hurried over.

"What do you mean "it's starting"?" Midorima asked, glancing down at Akio. "What exactly is happening to him?" Akio let out a soft groan, his body beginning to shake.

"You really don't want- watch out!"

Midorima really didn't know what had just happened. One second, he had been kneeling down next to Akio and the next he was on his back with a weight on his chest. Having been stunned from the initial impact, he didn't see who was on top of him. How could they have gotten there that fast? Until he recovered and saw a gun pointed at his forehead, with the emotionless face of Akio right behind it. His instincts kicked in, just as Akio pulled the trigger.

* * *

Akashi had been nearing the hallway Midorima had mentioned when he heard a shot ring out. Though Akashi had already been jogging, it turned into a full sprint because of the feeling of dread that had settled into his stomach. Why had Midorima sounded different than usual? It was almost as if something caused him to panic for a second. And then pairing it with the shot he just heard...

The red headed captain turned the corner and froze dead in his tracks at the sight.

* * *

Adrian could only watch in horror as Akio's eyes suddenly snapped open, black as night, and push Midorima over before pulling the gun at his hip and pointing it at Midorima's head. He'd known that this would have happened eventually but he didn't think he'd been that late... And now someone was going to die because of his mistake.

He didn't want to watch him pull the trigger, but something kept his eyes open. And it was a good thing too.

Midorima moved just in time, his left hand coming up and pushing away the wrist that held the gun while simultaneously moving his head to the other side. The gun went off, a hole appearing near Midorima's head. However the shot was so loud that Adrian could tell the greenhead wasn't going to be able to stop a second one in his daze.

Not wanting another death on his hands, Adrian was spurred into action. He had already been close when Akio pulled the trigger, so it didn't take much for him to grab the smaller male and fling him off Midorima. Doing so saved the greenhead's life once again, as the disruption caused Akio's second shot to go wildly off course. Akio tumbled a bit, the gun being knocked away from his hands, before coming to a stop against the wall.

Instantly, Adrian was on him. He sat on his chest, pinning his hands to the floor as Akio struggled against him. His face had twisted into one of rage, fighting against the larger male as he tried to get free.

Midorima had somewhat recovered, his ears still ringing from the two shots. In a daze, he sat up and looked over to see the two struggling. His glasses were somewhat askew so he fixed them, however in the process noticing his hands were shaking. His ears were ringing, as two shots in close range was extremely loud and he hadn't yet recovered from that. What he did notice though was movement out of the corner of his eye.

Adrian had managed to restrain Akio with his hands, having sat on his chest. The smaller male was still thrashing around wildly, but it was hard to get something heavy off you when it was sitting on your chest. Midorima blinked, having no idea what to do when a voice called out.

"Shintarou!"

Akashi was suddenly by his side, checking over him to see if he had been hurt. Despite being a strict captain, he of course cared for his team. Seeing that he was uninjured, Akashi glanced over to where the other two were struggling. "What is happening here?"

Just as he asked that, Bailey appeared round the other end of the hallway. Sparing the red and greenhead no glance, he strode over to the struggling Akio and knelt down. Adrian shuffled back a bit so he was now sitting on Akio's stomach. Without hesitation, Bailey plunged the syringe he had been holding straight into Akio's chest. The effect was almost immediate. Akio's chest rose a little before slumping, and his struggles stopped. Adrian paused before letting go, wary of being attacked again. He basically rolled off the other's body, slumping against the closest wall.

There was a small commotion as more of both captain's teams appeared, some with worried, others with panicked looks strewn across their faces. Aomine was first to break the silence.

"What the fuck happened? I heard gunshots!"

"I would like to know that as well, Zenith," Akashi added coldly. "Despite finding no injuries on Shintarou, it seems he is shaken, at least. There is also a hole near his head that's been caused by a bullet."

"What?" Kuroko seemingly suddenly appeared next to both Akashi and Midorima. His hand brushed over the hole in the floor. "Midorima-kun-"

"I am fine now, Kuroko, Akashi. But I want to know why Fukui suddenly went crazy and attacked me." Midorima's eyes were dark as he focused them on Akio, not forgetting how close he came to dying just then.

"Eh? Akio attacked Midorimacchi?" Kise looked utterly confused at the situation in front of him. "Why would he do that?"

"Because he had no control over it."

Bailey stood up, finally doing something to explain what had happened. Akashi fixed him with a stare. "What does that mean?"

Akio groaned suddenly, and everyone's eyes were on him. He sat up, a hand to his head. As if he'd only just noticed the tension in the hallway, he looked up to see the two teams. "Oh..."

He looked over to see Midorima, still on the ground. He was met by cautious eyes, ones that clearly didn't trust him. Looking over, Adrian glanced up from his position against the wall. The older male looked tired, but seeing his eyes told Akio all he needed to know.

"Shit. It happened again, didn't it." Akio looked at everyone this time. "I- I'm sorry guys. I took too many..."

"The pills, correct?" Akashi asked. "You said you needed one every three days to survive. This-"

"He will be fine now. Further questioning can be directed towards me."

Bailey stepped in between Akashi and Akio, staring at the redhead. Akashi returned his cold look with one of his own.

"If this is what happens when he misses a pill or two, then he is putting my team in danger. He almost killed Shintarou, and it appears that he was also hard to contain. I cannot let him live."

* * *

 **A/N: I honestly had no idea how to end this chapter, though ultimately it wasn't the reason I hadn't updated in so long ;-; It's the holidays for me currently, so I hope I will be able to write more! Thanks for sticking with me c:**


	16. Chapter 15

The tension in the hallway shot to an all time high, so thick that you could cut it with a knife. _Cannot let him live..._ Bailey's eyes narrowed, but he forced himself to remain calm and not draw the short sword that was at his side. "What makes you think you have the right to decide that?" He asked, the warning clear in his tone.

"You and your team are guests at our base. I cannot allow a dangerous individual such as Akio to continue staying here. I will not," Akashi stated, standing up from his position on the floor, "allow an outsider to challenge me."

No one dared to intervene for fear of their lives. Although Bailey wasn't extremely tall, he still stood a good head above the red headed emperor. There was about a metre between them, the slightest movement enough to set them off. Both were on high alert, Akashi staring at Bailey as if daring him to disobey. The other captain glared back, making up his mind on what he wanted to say. If he backed down now, Akashi would know that his word would be law. And Bailey wasn't about to let his teammate go.

Before he could say anything, Akio spoke up.

"Let me prove it." Akio was sick of it. Sick of Bailey standing up for him all the time, for something they both couldn't control. After all, it had been Akio's fault in the first place… Shaking his head, he tried to rid himself of the memory. "Let me prove that I'm useful to the team. I'll defeat any of you, here and now." He needed to. There was a lot in his past he needed to atone for, and being kicked out/killed by Akashi would mean he would never get the chance.

Automatically, his eyes darted to Aomine. Sure, he had a better chance of defeating Kise, but it was highly unlikely they'd let him fight him. He was confident that he could beat Aomine, now that his life was on the line. He needed to _win._

Aomine stepped forward, already prepared to fight, but Akashi stopped him.

"Very well. Your opponent will not be Daiki however." The emperor drew the blade at his side. "It will be me."

 _Shit._

* * *

Akio drew the sword at his side. Why Akashi? Why him, out of everyone? Deep down, he felt despair. If Akashi had the same or greater skill than Bailey… He would be screwed. He'd never beaten Bailey in a fair battle before.

Akashi drew his own katana, the sound ringing through the hallway. Aomine tried to stop him. Despite hating Akio, he knew the other didn't have a chance. "Akashi-"

A shuriken struck his cheek and dug into the wall behind him. Aomine froze mid step.

"Daiki. You would do well not to interfere."

A chill went down everyone's spines. Aomine bowed his head and stepped back. He pressed a hand to his cheek to stop the blood flow.

Akio didn't have time to worry about Aomine. Akashi levelled his sword at the other, his bichromatic eyes flashing.

It wasn't even a contest.

Akio made the first move. It wasn't meant to be anything flashy; a feint stab towards Akashi's clearly open left side. However halfway through the motion, he twisted his grip and opted for a slash across the other's abdomen.

He never got to that part. Akashi's red and gold eyes were encircled by a ring. His Emperor Eye had activated.

Akio's katana clanged off the red headed male as he stepped forward; Akashi's sword stopping the slash before it ever got the chance.

"What a laughable attempt."

Another two strikes, giving Akio barely enough time to dodge. The fear struck him then; the dread, the overwhelming difference between their abilities finally catching up to him.

"I do not allow anyone acting against me to look down upon me. Lower your head."

In the moment Akio went to block, Akashi's katana caught his and sent it flying with a neat flick of his wrist. He went in again, forcing the other to step back. With a quick change of direction, Akio lost his balance and fell.

The captain of the Generation of Miracles was truly a monster.

The red headed emperor rested the flat of his blade on Akio's shoulder.

"To all of us, gathered in this place… I will show you the difference in our positions."

With Akio staring at him with wide, resigned eyes, Akashi began to raise his sword. Bailey had begun to move, the horror clear on his face, but he would be too late.

"That's enough, Akashi-kun."

Kuroko grabbed Akashi's sword arm, not risking having his own arm cut off by using his blades. "You've proven your point."

"Let me go, Tetsuya. He needs to be taught a lesson. I won't let anyone disobey me, not even you."

"Akashi-kun, killing him will do nothing." Kuroko was right. Already, Bailey had his sword out and was in reach. His eyes were narrowed, prepared to act at the slightest provocation. Looking around, Akashi noted the reactions of the other team. Crystal was in obvious shock and horror, her hands pressed over her mouth. Adrian had gotten up from his sitting position, but he knew he would be too slow to help. Ben and Caleb had surprisingly similar expressions, more of seriousness instead of shock.

 _Very well._ The red headed captain looked down at Akio, who averted his gaze. "I will spare you, for now. However, if you ever threaten the lives of my teammates again do not expect the same courtesy. I will slice you down where you stand." Sheathing his sword, he turned away and strode down the hall. Stopping at the end, he spoke without turning around.

"Atsushi, take Shintarou to the infirmary. Daiki, go too. And Zenith… I have not forgotten our meeting."

Akashi turned the corner, leaving the rest of them behind.

* * *

After their captain left, the rest of them began to move. Murasakibara went to pick up Midorima, who didn't complain. His ears were still ringing, and he wouldn't be steady if he stood. Kise hesitantly moved towards Aomine. "Aomine-cchi…?"

Aomine held out a hand to stop him. Without a word, he left in the opposite direction. Murasakibara followed, carrying Midorima.

Kise looked around helplessly, before deciding it was best just to leave. The tension was still icy, and the last thing he wanted to do was be left in a room with hostile members of the other team.

Once the rainbow heads were gone, Bailey knelt down next to Akio. "Are you okay?" He asked softly.

Akio buried his face in his hands. "Fuck…" He let out the long breath he had been holding. "I'm sorry, Bailey. I…"

The last thing he expected was a slap. Crystal had knelt as well, but the look on her face was very different to the one he was used to seeing.

"Why do you keep blaming yourself? No matter how many times we tell you, you still keep thinking that mission was your fault. It was on all of us. We were the ones to decide to send you in."

Akio opened his mouth to say something, but Caleb cut him off. "We know how you feel, Akio. We've known for a while. They aren't your failures."

The male simply stared at the team. He hadn't expected this; all of them attempting to comfort him. But it wasn't just that. He'd lost, when he had staked everything on the line. The only reason he wasn't dead was because Akashi had been feeling merciful. And only then when Kuroko had stopped him. But he didn't want to voice his thoughts, not after all they had to say.

Instead, he offered them a smile. "Thanks guys. I'm sorry for being such a downer."

Bailey ruffled his hair and helped him to stand.

"Akashi-san is damn terrifying," Akio muttered under his breath, while the rest of them nodded in agreement. Bailey seemed to think more about that than the others, likely since he saw him as an opposing captain.

Remembering something, Bailey frowned and looked at Akio. "Please, stick to the portions I give you," he sighed out. This whole incident had only occurred because Akio tended to take more pills when it neared a mission. The male hung his head.

"I know I know, I just want to be in top shape for missions. Sorry, I won't do it again." _I say that every time but…_ His captain ruffled his hair again. "It's fine. No one was seriously injured, just a bit shaken up. Crystal, you'll find out where the shipment went correct?"

She nodded, stretching as she stood up. "I'll find it. I'll order extra as well, so we can all hold onto some."

Akio smiled gratefully at her, but inside he was tearing himself up. All of it had been his fault, and he couldn't even fix it. Caleb looked over at him, seeing all the turbulent thoughts and decided to talk to him afterwards. He supposed that the other team really did work as a team; there was nothing holding them back, and no idle thoughts to distract them from their mission. Akashi was a strict one, but it kept their team together.

 _You gonna talk to him?_

Caleb shot a look towards his twin, who was looking back curiously.

 _Yeah. I'll see you later._ With a nod, Ben turned and left the hallway.

The other twin lightly tapped Akio on the shoulder, giving him a look before he followed after his brother.

Everything was going to be fine, they hoped.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! Focused a lot on Bailey's team this chapter, I promise there will be more GoM in the next! Can I just mention I love how badass Akashi is sometimes .**


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